Slavery
by SofusGirl
Summary: Creative title is creative. Zoro has been taken. Struck with amnesia he must survive as a slave on a pirate ship with a cruel leader. Will his nakama find him? And if they do, will it be in time, or will their swordsman be broken beyond repair? Yaoi, male/male, torture, rape, mild SanZo, angst. Rated M for a reason people.
1. Stolen

**A/N:** _Hi, I'm back ;) I actually wrote this a while back, way before I had seen the sabaody arc. I really had no idea that there was slavery in One Piece O.o_

_Anyway, this story will be graphic in places and will take up disturbing themes. Because I'm twisted like that. _

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, slavery, graphic rape (in later chapters), explicitness, torture... You have been warned!_  
_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. T.T If I did, it wouldn't be FANfiction, would it? (Also, I'd have a lot more cash... just saying)

Enjoy...

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Stolen**

The sun was shining brightly over the ocean of the Grand Line. Although only a few hours ago the rain had been pouring. On board the pirate ship "Thousand Sunny" the Straw Hat pirates were relaxing, and enjoying the warm weather. Nami, the navigator checked their course.

"We should reach the next island before tomorrow is over" she grinned. Luffy flashed her one of his trademark smiles and laughed.

"Great! Na, Robin, do you know anything about the island?" he asked. The archaeologist nodded.

"Yes. It is called Zugaikotsu Island*, and is known for its generally hospitable people. Though lately there have been reports of mysterious disappearances. So we should be careful there, Luffy-kun" she explained. Nami looked serious, and Usopp paled significantly.

"I think my can't-step-on-the-scary-island disease is acting up" he stated while clutching his belly dramatically. Chopper immediately began fussing over him. Sanji rolled his eyes. Zoro, who stood a distance away, lifting weights, simply put the weights down.

"Sounds like a challenge. And if we're lucky curly-brow over there will disappear" he smirked. The cook glared at him.

"Then you'd starve to death, marimo" he replied.

"Heh, it'd be worth it! I wouldn't have to see your dartbrow face everyday"

"What was that, moss ball?"

"Going deaf now, ero-cook?" Zoro's smirk grew wider.

"Wha- You moronic algae haired baka-marimo!"

"Are you running out of insults love-cook?"

"No, you... fag!" Sanji growled. Zoro looked slightly put out for a second. That comment had actually... hurt!

"What? Did I hit a sore spot or something?" Sanji teased. Zoro glared at him. Sanji had never used that sort of language before. Heck, Zoro didn't think Sanji felt that way about gays. He mentally shook his head, it was probably just meant as an insult, he couldn't possibly know how close to home that comment had hit. Sanji lifted a leg and started kicking, just as Zoro drew his three katana. The two men began fighting, as usual. The rest of the crew just ignored them and kept talking. Brook looked at them. Just a little surprised that this was normal for them, as he was rather new to the crew he still wasn't completely used to them. But he wasn't exactly normal either, so it didn't matter.

"Sanji! I'm hungry!" the captain whined. Sanji walked to the kitchen to prepare food, not necessarily because his captain said so, but rather because it was dinner time soon and his lovely ladies would probably be hungry soon too. Zoro sheathed his swords and looked after the cook.

'He can't possibly know... can he?'

The comment haunted Zoro all through the rest of the day. Even now, as he was up in the crow's nest on watching duty. It annoyed him, 'cause he really shouldn't give a shit about what that stupid chef thought, so why did it bug him that much? He shook his head and leaned against the wall in the crow's nest.

"Fuck it. I don't care about what that idiot says!" he growled. Though he knew it was a lie, why else would he keep thinking about it? Zoro looked towards the starlit sky.

"It ain't like I have a crush on him or something" he muttered. But even as he said those words he couldn't quite get himself to believe them. He sighed and let his mind wander. Soon he was nodding off. Entering the world of dreams, where anything is possible.

***dream****

_Zoro walked around the ship, it was completely empty. No voices were heard, no familiar faces seen... Darkness covered the ship and made the atmosphere feel eerie. Zoro became more and more confused. Where was everyone?_

"_Oi, Luffy? Robin? Franky? Usopp? Nami? ...Sanji?" Where could they be? _

"_Zoro... in here" a voice said. The voice was seductive and slightly gruff, but very familiar. Zoro opened the door in front of him. He was met with the sight of a beautiful scene. The cook was lying on the bed, wearing nothing but his boxers. His hair looked slightly messy, and he held a cigarette to his lips, inhaling the smoke, before puffing it out in Zoro's face. He stood up and walked towards the stunned swordsman, putting out his cigarette before speaking. The candle by the bedside flickered slightly before flaring up strongly, illuminating the features of the blond chef. _

"_Do I look good to you?" Sanji asked, letting a hand glide around Zoro's waist. _

"_Do I make you all hot and bothered?" he roughly pushed Zoro down on the bed, and placed himself over him. One arm on either side of Zoro, and one leg between his legs. Zoro blushed, which in turn made him feel dumb. He was a swordsman after all. But the scenario was just so... hot!_

"_Do I make you feel like a teenage girl?" One hand moved closer to Zoro's crotch. Suddenly the scenery shifted. Things turned darker. The candle quickly stopped burning; only emanating a thin whisper of smoke. The expression on Sanji's face went sinister and he grinned maliciously. _

"_You dirty faggot! You're nothing. People like you should just be murdered! Did you honestly think I give a shit about you? Why don't you just die, fag!" Zoro noticed his arms were tied up. Sanji held a sharp butchers-knife, gleaming dangerously in the pale moonlight from the window, he swung his arm down and..._

***dream over***

Zoro sat up with a start. His heart was pounding, and not just out of fear. Though it had been a while since he had a nightmare like that, it wasn't that which had his heart pounding in his chest and his breath coming in heavy pants. No, the reason for this was the first part of the dream. The image of a seductive cook flashed before Zoro's eyes. He shuddered in pleasure. Sanji in his dream had been incredibly hot and seductive... As opposed to the way he was around women. It was a major turn on.

"Fuck" he groaned. He could not think of his nakama that way! It was wrong. And yet his nether regions chose to disagree, as he now sported a raging hard member. Zoro groaned. He resisted the temptation to touch himself, and instead chose to will the aching hard-on away. Thinking of the most disgusting thing he could come up with (you don't wanna know what it was, trust me), the erection slowly faded. Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his hair, now damp with sweat. He stayed in the crow's nest for a while until he heard steps approaching, and soon Usopp peeked in.

"Err... I was supposed to swap with you now" he said. Zoro nodded.

"I see" He yawned. Had he slept that long? He moved down, and immediately went to the showers. He had to get that sweat off, and a nice shower might help him calm down. The erection had come because of a wet dream, nothing else; he did not have a crush on Sanji! It was simply... lust. Only that. The cool water spraying down his shoulders felt good. It washed away the remnants of both the pleasant dream and the nightmare. Zoro sighed. He should probably get some more sleep before morning came too... He dried off and slowly walked to his bed. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, it never did. And this time he, thankfully, didn't have any dreams.

He was woken, rather rudely, by an angry cook yelling that he better get his ass down and eat breakfast.

'I'd love to get my ass down for something else' he thought sleepily, before realizing just what he had thought. He mentally slapped himself.

'Get a grip! I do not like Sanji like that!' he thought. He finally entered the kitchen, to find it in its normal state of total chaos. He ate his share of the food, perfectly made as usual, and watched the cook as he cooked seconds for Luffy and made desserts for the ladies. Zoro felt a sting of jealousy as Sanji fawned over Nami.

'Dammit! I should not feel jealous, after all I do not care!' he thought fiercely, and glared at the redhead when no one was looking.

After the meal Zoro went to train. He lifted his massive weights and focused all his thoughts on the workout. If he was going to become the best swordsman he had to focus on his training after all. When he deemed himself done with the weightlifting he sat down to meditate. A sense of foreboding hit him. Something bad was going to happen. He could feel it in every part of his body. He shrugged the feeling off. They had been through bad shit before. This would be no different. Everything always worked out for the best in the end.

"LAND AHOY!" Luffy yelled. Zoro stood up and looked towards the island. He could see where it had got its name. A huge mountain was a large part of the island, and on that mountain a pattern of trees and caves formed the illusion of a skull.

"This should be fun" he smirked as the ship docked.

"Let's go explore!" Luffy exclaimed. Nami held him back with an annoyed look on her face. She started talking.

"We won't take any unnecessary chances, so we'll split up into twos. Luffy, you're going with Usopp. I'll go with Sanji, Usopp joins Brook and Franky goes with Robin, Zoro you can..."

"I can go alone." Zoro finished for her.

"Actually I thought you could watch the ship" she said with a voice that told Zoro his debt to her would increase if he didn't. He sent her a dark look, but obeyed and sat down on the ship. It wasn't like there was anything he had to do anyway. He watched the others leave. Usopp looked slightly skeptically at Brook, but didn't seem to mind too much. Soon they were out of sight. Zoro let himself doze off, while keeping his senses sharp and his swords close, not willing to let anyone catch him off guard.

It didn't take long before something happened. He felt someone approaching and just before they hit him he lifted his sword and blocked. He opened his eyes and looked at the attacker. It was a tall man -about the same height as Brook, maybe even taller- with short purplish black hair and a strong powerfully built body. He had a slight beard and wielded a large naginata, a long wooden staff with a curved blade on the end, and looked mildly surprised that he had been blocked.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Zoro asked. The man smirked.

"I am Hagewashi. And I want... you" he answered, his smirk growing darker. Zoro smirked right back.

"Too bad, ya can't have me" he said and attacked the man. They fought each other. Zoro gave all he had. The man was strong! Zoro got in a few hits, but nothing serious, which irked him. But this Hagewashi man hadn't landed more than a few hits either. So they were pretty even. Suddenly one of his swords were stolen from his hands.

"What the...?" another man stood next to the first one. This one was scrawny looking with a narrow, pointy face and greasy blonde hair, reaching his shoulders. He reminded Zoro strongly of a rat. He had Kitetsu in his hands.

"Devil's fruit?" he asked. The ratty man grinned.

"The haya haya no mi. It made me be able to move at a speed the human senses can't pick up" he explained. Zoro cursed himself for letting one of his weapons be taken so easily. The fact that the wounds from his encounter with Bartholomew Kuma weren't completely healed yet didn't exactly help him either. He moved Wado from his mouth to his left hand, and got ready to attack again. But before he could do anything the ratty man disappeared from his view again, and this time Zoro held on tightly to his weapons. Unfortunately that was not what they were aiming for. The ratty man grabbed his swords, as he had expected, but as he held on tightly to them, he failed to block Hagewashi's next blow. He had aimed the blunt end of his weapon to Zoro's head, and while Zoro kept his swords from being taken he struck. By the time Zoro noticed it it was already too late. The full force of the blow was taken by his head, instead of his swords or arms, like it usually would have been. And as the man was so strong, the blow successfully knocked the green haired swordsman out. Before everything went black Zoro's last thoughts were

'Damn, I hope Sanji didn't see that embarrassing defeat'

The straw hats returned to the ship, worn out after the trip to the town. The people had been nice enough, though a bit nervous, and it had been tiresome. At first no one noticed anything wrong, and just started to do their stuff. Sanji began cooking dinner, Nami wanted to enjoy the last half hour of sun before night fell, Robin wanted to read and so on. Only Chopper thought something was off and looked around a bit.

"Uhm... where's Zoro?" he asked. The others stopped what they were doing and looked around among themselves, realizing the swordsman wasn't there.

"He probably got lost again" Sanji stated in a bored tone of voice.

"How? He was staying right here on the ship..." Nami said. Sanji hadn't thought of that...

"Eh... you guys..." Usopp said, and pointed to three swords lying on the deck, a little blood splattered here and there. In the middle of it all a green haramaki was laying. A dagger pierced through it, as if to send the straw hats a cruel message. Zoro had not gotten lost. He had been taken! As this realization hit home the crew gasped. Nami slapped her hands over her mouth and a few tears escaped her eyes. How could one of the strongest ones in their group be taken away like this? Robin looked stunned, Usopp looked scared and both Chopper and Franky were crying.

"Zoro-bro!" Franky wailed. Brook looked mournful and angry all in one, and Luffy... Luffy looked furious.

"We will find him! No one harms my nakama!" Luffy said, and anyone could tell he was completely serious.

* * *

*zugaikotsu=Skull

Hagewashi=Vulture


	2. Who am I?

**A/N**: _Wow! 4 reviews already O.o Thank you so much! I feel honored! _

**Warnings in chapter 1. **

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Who am I?**

He woke up in a dark room. His hands were tied together by thick, sturdy rope, which was tied to a metal ring attached to one of the walls. He pulled on it slightly, but doing so only made it tighter, so he stopped. He was confused. He had no idea where the fuck he was. He felt something around his throat and lifted his tied hands to feel. A metal collar was secured around his neck, and even if he was uncertain of many things right now, like why his head hurt, he knew that collars usually meant slavery or something equally bad. He tried again to pry his hands loose from the rope, but didn't succeed.

"Hello, young one" a voice said. He turned around and looked towards the door. The lights were turned on, and he could see clearly. A man with broad shoulders and short purplish black hair stood before him. He looked confusedly up at the tall man.

"Could you help me get free from here?" He asked, not really expecting a positive answer. The man laughed harshly.

"You're cute, kid." he said and untied the rope from the wall. He pulled on it, pulling Him closer. He frowned, a bit insulted at being called kid.

"You're mine now!" the man said. He had feared that. He really was a slave then!

"Speak your name, slave" the man demanded. The Slave stood tall, but hesitated with a frown before answering.

"I... I don't know sir..." he said. The man laughed, before he hit the Slave, sending him crashing into the wall.

"You do not have a name, slave. For you are not a person, you are my slave. Understand?" he said. The Slave glared at the man, but nodded.

'So the infamous pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro lost his memory from that blow. Heh, let's keep it that way' Hagewashi thought with a sinister grin.

'But he still has a strong will. We will have to break him' he grinned.

"Can you at least remove the ropes?" Slave asked. This earned him another hit to the abdomen. This time it was strong enough to knock the air out of him. He stood on hands and knees gasping when Hagewashi pulled Slave's shirt off and struck again, this time with a whip. It cracked through the air and hit Slave's back. Causing a deep wound to appear. Slave gasped in pain, but didn't scream.

"You. Do. Not. Ask. Questions!" Hagewashi yelled. For each word he brought the whip down once more on Slave's back. When he was finished he tied Slave's rope back onto the metal ring, and grabbed his face.

"Remember this, slave. Disobey me, and you will pay. This was only a warning, disobey again, and you will feel much worse. And you will refer to me as master or oyabin. Get it?" he spat. Slave nodded, a slight hint of fear showing in his eyes. Hagewashi grinned and kissed his new slave on the forehead, before walking out.  
'The seed of fear is planted. It is so easy to do when he doesn't remember his past. But he's not broken yet. It takes more work still, but I'll get there. I will get there.' He smirked.

* * *

The straw hats started out by asking the people in the town. They explained immediately that they had no idea where the victims of the abductor were taken, but they had searched the entire village, some had even searched the entire island, without finding any of the victims. There was, however, one of the villagers who spoke up.

"We never found any of the victims alive, but two of the four people who were abducted were found dead near the harbor, which made us think that it might be more on one of the ships, but the search turned out fruitless... My daughter and Mira's little brother were the only ones found, and we just don't know what to do anymore... I'm sorry we can't be of more help, and I hate to ask this of you when you are clearly upset about losing your swordsman, but if you find the culprits, will you please avenge the victims? If they have survived, set them free, they'll find a way home, I'm certain, just... don't let the culprits behind this go if you find them..." the woman was crying now, yet her eyes looked determined.

"Of course. But may I ask, is there more to it than simply abducting and murdering the victims? You seem so broken hearted..." Sanji said concerned, both for the woman and for Zoro. The woman nodded.

"My daughter, when found, had awful scars around her ankles and wrists... like she had been tied up and... and she was bruised... he had h-hit her... Also... she..." the woman sobbed loudly. Another one took her place.

"She was a virgin when she was taken. When she was returned she most definitely was not" The pirates gasped. Luffy looked confused.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means that the girl most likely was raped, Luffy" Robin explained. Luffy's eyes widened and he clenched his fists. Though Zoro could survive many things, and protect himself from quite a lot... was this really something he could handle or was it something that could break even him? But, no... the girl was a girl, Zoro was a man. And the rapist was definitely a girl's man. Otherwise the girl wouldn't have been touched... right?

* * *

Slave shuddered at the thought of his master. The man gave him the creeps! He looked around the room. Actually studying it this time. It was plain. Bare walls, a strong looking wooden door, and a window with bars in front of it, to prevent him from escaping. The room was probably on board a ship, if the movement was anything to go by. The thought of a ship reminded him of something, but his head hurt, and he couldn't recall what it was. The room also had a plain table and two chairs. Slave couldn't see why, he was only one after all. Near the place his rope was tied there was a bench. It was just as plain as the other things. Simple and wooden. A blanket lay atop it. The bed was a little different. It was a double bed, and looked rather comfy. It had a soft looking mattress and fluffy pillows, and warm looking duvets. Slave's head really ached, and he felt very tired, despite having woken up recently. His back stung as well, from the whipping. He started moving towards the bed, but just as he was a few inches away from it he found the ropes were too short. He couldn't lie on the bed!

'I should have known' he thought and sighed. He moved to the bench and lay down on it. His back hurt, so he flipped over to his stomach and lay like that until sleep claimed him.

He was awakened by an icy bucket of water that someone poured over his head. He glared at the girl who had woken him.

"You have to get up! If you don't, Master will be mad at both you and me..." Slave understood and got up. The girl untied his hands, but left the rope attached to the metal ring on the wall, and waited. Slave pulled his shirt back on, wincing slightly as it agitated the wounds. He looked at the girl. She had red, curly hair that hung down her back, slightly matted and dirty. Her skin was pale, and a few freckles speckled her cheeks and shoulders. She wore a simple brown dress, patched up and torn in several places, and she had a metal collar around her neck, like him. So she was a slave as well. She tied the rope back on. He didn't bother struggling, as it would probably just get both of them in trouble.

"My name is, or was, Anju. I'm thirteen years old. What's your name?" she asked. She was energetic, even though her cheek had a bruise, showing she had been hit. Her smile was probably the only thing keeping her going.

"I don't have one. That's what that m- I mean, Master, said." she looked confused. Slave shrugged.

"But surely you had a name before he caught you? He said to me that I didn't have a name either, but I am Anju, no matter what people call me" she stated defiantly. Slave looked at her in wonder. She had been somewhere else before? Had he? He couldn't recall.

"I can't remember anything other than this" he said, indicating the room and the ropes. She looked sad. Then she brightened up.

"Then I'll name you, like a stray" she grinned Slave rolled his eyes, but decided to let her have fun.

"Hmm... Your hair is green... maybe... Kusachi" she looked proud.

"You're calling me grass?" he asked incredulously, snorting slightly. She nodded.

"Kusa for short" she grinned. The newly named Kusachi smiled and decided he liked this girl.

"But we really have to get you presentable now. I am to escort you to Master" she explained. She was suddenly very serious.

"So, Kusa nii-chan, I'll untie the rope, and you have to follow me. If you don't we're in trouble" Anju said. Kusachi nodded. He'd protect this girl as best he could, he decided. She moved to the metal ring and untied the rope from it. She then proceeded to pull him along, as if he was a dog on a leash. It felt shameful, but Kusachi endured. He wouldn't break easily. He might be a slave, but he had some dignity after all!

"We're here" Anju whispered.

"I cannot help you in there. He is the Master, you're the slave, never forget that! _He_ sure won't" she had a pained look in her eyes. She brought him through the double doors and inside a massive room. In a chair sat Hagewashi.

"Hand him over, girl" he said. Anju pulled Kusachi along, and handed him over.

"Good luck, Kusa" she whispered as she stepped back. She looked down on the floor.

"You may go" Master said. Anju scurried out.

Kusachi glared at the man, though a slight sting of fear ran through him.

"So, slave. Let's see if you've learned. What is your name?" Master asked. Kusachi looked him in the eyes.

"I do not have one. I am your slave" he spat. Master pet his head, like one would an obedient pet.

"Good, but next time, do not look me in the eyes! Understand?" he hissed and grabbed Kusachi's hair, pulling him up.

"Yes, Master" Kusachi answered with his gaze firmly directed downwards. Master looked pleased and Kusachi almost sighed with relief as he was let down.

"Now, slave. Let's see if you are skilled enough for me" a vicious grin spread across Master's face.

"You shall dance for me, boy! You only need to change clothes. My lovely slave girl here will help you" he said, and a young woman, probably a year or so older than Kusachi, appeared. She was tall, with long legs, and a skinny, tanned body. Her hair was waistlong and a dark caramel color. She wore exotic looking, very revealing clothes, and she moved in a strongly sensual way. She walked over to Kusachi and tore his clothes off. Master looked hungrily over his exposed body. He now stood completely nude, until she tossed a new pair of pants to him. They were put on quickly, and soon the slave woman put on him some golden bracelets and anklets, which clinked together as he moved, much like his earrings did.

"He is done, Master." she said as she curtsied and stepped back. Kusachi felt out of place, but had no choice. The ropes were removed from his wrists and music began.

"Dance boy, or you will regret it" said the Master. Kusachi swallowed, and began to move with the music. At first he was uncertain. He didn't feel comfortable moving like this, not in front of anyone and definitely not dressed like this. The beat changed and became more sensual. Kusachi tried to follow the beat, he tried to move seductively, but he just couldn't make himself do that. Not to this man! He couldn't move like that for a man he loathed! He might possibly do it for someone he cared for, like... Blonde hair flowed in the wind. Covering one eye. A cigarette was lit, as the blonde man inhaled the smoke, exhaling it slowly... Kusachi shook his head. What had that been? He felt like the blonde was someone he should remember, but he couldn't. His head ached, and he stopped dancing to regain his balance.

"Disappointing, Slave. You danced so well, what happened? Did you decide you were too good for dancing for me?" Kusachi's eyes widened and he shook his head, which was not a good idea he soon found out, as it made him loose his balance. He fell to his knees.

"I think you did. Remember, you are a slave. You are _my_ slave! So you will obey me!" Master made a point of swinging a whip down on Kusachi for every word spoken. Kusachi kept his screams of pain inside, not allowing the Master the pleasure of making him cry out.

"Change his clothes" Master spat, and the slave woman from before changed his outfit back. Although, she left his shoes out, so now he only wore the black pants and the white t-shirt, which now was becoming slightly bloody, due to his fresh wounds. The ropes were once again fastened around his wrists and he was pulled towards Master.

"Let go of me you piece of shit!" Kusachi spat. Hiding the slight fear Master provoked in him.

"He shall be kept in his room, tied up. No food for the next... let's say the next month. Complete isolation. Water twice a day. Got it?" Master barked out. The slave woman nodded.

"Good. Now scram!" Master moved away and into a different room. The slave woman curtsied to him, and pulled Kusachi along harshly. He could feel the rope making his skin sore, as it was continually pulled at. He tried to pull free of the woman's grip once, but the guards made sure he couldn't get away.

"Sorry, kid. But you're not a guest, you're a slave. So obey!" the woman sneered. He scowled back at her.

"And you're not?" he asked with a raised brow.

"I happen to be his favorite! He even calls me his Koibito*! If you do anything to steal his affection from me, you'll regret it!" she growled as they entered Kusachi's room. She pulled him in and tied the rope tightly to the ring on the wall. Making sure he couldn't get it loose.

"Have a nice month, moss-head!" she snarled. He tried to run to attack her, but the rope held him back. He growled in frustration and pulled at it, only resulting in making them cut into his wrists. Blood trickled down his arms. He glared at the locked door and eventually lay down on his "bed". This was not going to be a pleasant month.

* * *

"ZORO!" Luffy yelled as they set sail. As if he hoped the swordsman could hear him and answer from wherever he was. Sanji lit another cigarette. He had a sullen look to him. Things just weren't the same without the stupid marimo around. Their daily fights had been great for letting out stress. Also, the whole crew felt wrong without the swordsman training or dozing off somewhere. He let out a puff of smoke and sighed.

'I can't believe I actually miss that idiot' he thought with slight annoyance.

'God, I hope he's alright' he sighed again and walked into the kitchen to make something for the girls. The whole crew was looking quite gloomy, and he just couldn't stand it. At least if he was cooking he'd get his mind off things for a while. Nami's eyes were puffy from crying. The others weren't much better off. Usopp was, surprisingly, more angry than scared. Though he was terrified, his anger was greater. How could someone just take Zoro? How could they just steal their nakama? They saw the island slowly become farther and farther away.

"We will find him!" Luffy said determinedly.

"Like with Robin. Zoro was taken, and did not quit our crew, so we will find him and bring him back" no one argued. Instead a fierce look overtook their features. They knew that they had to find Zoro. Otherwise they could not move farther in their adventure with clean consciences. Luffy's hat cast a shadow over his eyes as he moved onto the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny.

"Don't worry Zoro. We'll get you back" he said. Sanji took another whiff of the cigarette. As he exhaled he looked outside.

'We'll get you, marimo. Hang in there'

* * *

Kusachi had quickly lost track of the days. He knew it had been at least a week since he had been locked in here. He was allowed water three times a day, but sometimes the slave-woman would "forget" to bring it to him. This day she had "forgotten" it twice. It was evening and Kusachi was both famished and parched. He heard the click of the lock, and saw the door opening. His eyes widened as he saw Anju enter instead of that dreadful woman. She placed a glass and a mug of water before him.

"I c...*cough*... I can't pour it" he admitted. His voice was raspy from the lack of hydration. Anju smiled at him and poured him a glass. He grabbed the glass with his hands, still tied together, and drank the water greedily. She kept pouring water until the mug was empty. Only then did Kusachi notice she hadn't spoken once since she entered.

"Is something wrong, Anju?" he asked. She bowed her head and whimpered. A few tears slipped from her eyes.

"Kusa nii-chan... our Master... H-he..." she sobbed. Her voice was raspy and hoarse. Kusachi didn't know what the Master had done to her, but it had to have been bad for Anju to react like this. She stopped crying, only to cough violently. Only then did Kusachi notice the dark purple bruises around her neck. The collar hid part of it, but most of it was above the thin ring of metal. The man must have strangled her quite brutally for it to be this bad.

"You shouldn't talk too much, it might slow down the healing process" Kusachi said. Anju nodded and stood up, beginning to walk out. Kusachi spoke up.

"How long have I been stuck here?" he asked. She held up three fingers.

"Three weeks?" he said. She nodded and held up six fingers.

"Three weeks and six days!" he sighed. Hopefully he'd be fed the next day. His stomach felt like an open wound. He was just so hungry! In desperation he'd even tried munching on some bugs that crawled on the floor, but they hadn't really helped. It was just luck that kept him from getting sick from them... Anju left the room with a short wave, and locked the door. After she left Kusachi felt as lonely as ever. It made him feel the hunger even more than before. He moaned slightly. He had gone with little food before -not that he could remember any of that anyways- , but not like this, not without _any _food! His body definitely wasn't used to this little nutrition. It physically hurt to be this hungry. He slowly fell asleep even as his body protested against the lack of food.

The next morning he was woken up at sunrise. A man entered his room and woke him up. The man was about as tall as Kusachi, and had shoulder length white hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail. He was pale, and dressed in white from top to toe. He looked at Kusachi as if he was a piece of dirt on his newly polished shoe.

"Get up, slave!" he said with a disgusted look. Kusachi stood up, and the rope was untied. In its place a leash was attached to the collar around his neck.

"You are going to help out in the kitchen today! And don't you dare eat any of the food" the man spat, as he pulled Kusachi along. Kusachi followed, glaring at the man's back as they walked to the bathroom first.

"Clean yourself, slave-boy" Kusachi scowled as a piece of cloth was thrown to him. He went under the shower and washed himself in the icy cold water. When he was done the white haired man let him dress, before pulling him along to the kitchen. He was immediately put to cleaning duty. He was made to clean the dishes and, if necessary, the floor and other things. He was tired and hungry and struggled a bit with doing his job, especially when the food was so temptingly close. Kusachi looked around. One of the plates he was meant to clean still had some food on it. It was only a small piece of meat, and a little bit of potato, but it was food! The scent of it made it so tempting... He looked around once more, so that he wouldn't be seen. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea to eat it, but if he didn't he just might pass out from hunger! He practically inhaled the meat and potato, almost forgetting to chew. His stomach seemed to settle a little and he continued working, hoping no one had seen him.

Soon the white haired man, who Kusachi had figured out was the chef on this ship, came over and reattached the leash. Once more pulling him along.

'What am I, a dog?' Kusachi thought grouchily. His eyes widened as he recognized the door he had been brought before. It was the door to Master's room. The chef knocked on the door.

"Captain Hagewashi-sama! May I enter?" he asked. Master answered from within the room, and the chef entered. Pulling Kusachi along.

"What do you want, James?" Master asked. He looked slightly interested as he saw Kusachi.

"This slave thought he could disobey me, and eat food from the kitchen. Even though I specifically told him not to, Captain!" the chef said and glared at Kusachi.

"Really now? You may go. Leave the slave here, I will deal with him personally" Master grinned viciously. A shiver went down Kusachi's spine as he saw that sadistic gleam in Master's eyes. The chef, James, left the room and closed the door tightly. Master walked over to Kusachi and grabbed him by the hair, which had now grown slightly longer, pulling him up, forcing the green haired man to stand on the tips of his toes. Master threw him to the ground.

"Well, slave. A month has passed. You have lost a lot of weight... But it seems that even though your muscle mass has decreased, it is far from making you look like a skeleton yet. So, slave, are you hungry?" he asked. Kusachi glared at him, though it lacked it's usual ferocity as he was worn out from the combination of starvation and the recent working.

"Answer, slave!" Master shouted and backhanded Kusachi.

"Y-yes master" the slave answered. He dared not defy Master any more.

"Well then, I had hoped you'd have learned to not disobey, but it seems you chose to anyway. Do you deny this?" Master asked. Kusachi shook his head.

"No, but I-"

"Silence! You disobeyed, and so you will be punished. As starvation did not seem to work, how about this. You will be chained up, and whipped... Let's say ten lashes with this" Master pulled out a cruel looking whip. It was rather long, with spikes attached to it, so being whipped with that thing would most definitely not be comfortable. He remembered the first lashing Master had given him, and that had been painful enough, this whip was crueler, and also he'd be hit more with this one than he had been with the other. Kusachi backed up a little. Master smiled.

"But first... I have another task for you" he said with that vicious smile, though this time it was tainted with something that scared Kusachi beyond anything he could remember having felt. This time the grin was tainted with lust...

* * *

**A/N: **_Here's chapter 2. I admit there are some things in it I could've done better, but for now, enjoy it as it is. _

_Please review :D it keeps the chapters coming quicker ;)_


	3. Never shal we die

**A/N:** _Wow... I am getting so much more reviews for this than I have gotten on anything previously! Thank you all so much! I try to reply to every review, but if I miss one I am sorry. Anyway, here's chapter 3 :) Enjoy ^^,_

**Warnings: This chapter gets graphic. Rape and abuse. You have been warned. **

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Never shall we die**

The straw hat pirates were beginning to look tired. Worn out from looking for their lost crew member. Luffy sat in his favorite spot looking off in the distance. Over a month had passed since their swordsman had been stolen away from them, and the crew had been searching non-stop. Sanji walked towards the captain with a defeated air about him.

"Luffy... We can't keep searching forever" the words, though true, stung. Both for Luffy and Sanji. Luffy turned to look at the ship's cook. He nodded slightly, his hat hiding his eyes.

"I know... But I don't want to give up on him!" he said.

"We won't give up! But we can't search actively any longer. We don't even know what direction the kidnappers sailed!" Sanji exclaimed. He sighed and looked towards the ocean.

"Get the others, and I will tell them" Luffy ordered. Sanji nodded and went to get the rest of the crew. He knew this was extra hard on Luffy. As a captain, the boy felt responsible, and thus he didn't want to give up. Also, Zoro had been the first member of the pirate crew. The cook thought back to the countless fights they had been involved in. He remembered how Zoro had always given it all. He remembered his own fights with the green haired idiot, and the few times they had been relaxed and almost friendly with each other. One memory struck him hard. Their last fight, the day before Zoro disappeared. He recalled calling Zoro a fag. He regretted it almost immediately after saying it, but his pride made him refuse to take it back. He had seen the nearly hurt look in the swordsman's eyes. Sanji could remember struggling to sleep, as guilt wanted him to apologize. He hadn't, and that was eating him up now. He might never get the chance to, either. It was all so... so fucked up! Zoro wasn't supposed to be taken. He was too strong! Things like this just didn't happen to them! It shouldn't... Sanji gathered his crewmates and told them to get up on deck. When they were all gathered Luffy faced them.

"We... we will stop searching for... for Zoro. He wouldn't want us to sacrifice our dreams to... to find him, when we d-don't even know who took him" the captain explained. Tears had begun to run down his face.

"But, we will not give up on him! He is strong, and whether we eventually find him by chance, or he escapes, we will meet him again. Whether or not he is here at the moment, he is one of us!" he said. The pirates looked sorrowful, but agreed with their captain, and with heavy hearts they stopped searching, in favor of continuing their quest through the Grand Line to find the treasure One Piece, knowing that if they found any small trace of Zoro, no matter how insignificant, they would take up the search once more.

* * *

Kusachi lay in his room. On the bench as usual, though he was not tied up anymore. His back ached from the whipping. Every hit had dug deep into his back and left rather painful wounds. But that was not the main reason Kusachi struggled with falling asleep. The mere memory of what Master had made him do made a wave of nausea hit him hard, and he almost threw up what little food he had been allowed before the punishment began.

***Flashback*****  
**

_Kusachi cringed as he finished the last bit of food he had been allowed to eat. Master pulled him over and explained what he expected. _

"_I want you to please me." he said. Kusachi paled. _

"_No fucking way!" he snarled. To his astonishment Master merely smiled. _

"_I think you will. You see, if you don't I will make sure your little 'friend', that red haired slave girl, is both tortured and killed before your very eyes, all because you refuse to cooperate. So put that filthy mouth of yours to good use, slave!" he said with a sneer. Kusachi looked slightly green. He really didn't want to do it, but Anju was like a little sister to him. He felt a need to protect her, and he would not forgive himself if he was the reason she would die! He bowed his head in silent acceptance. Master smirked victoriously and began to unbutton his pants. Then he paused. _

"_And I suppose I don't need to say, if you as much as try to harm me, your little friend will be harmed in a way I deem equal" Kusachi knelt before Master and let his tongue run over the tip of the man's erection. He shuddered at the taste. It was revolting. Without warning Master pushed his full length into Kusachi's mouth. Kusachi nearly gagged, and very nearly bit the man, but he remembered what had been said about Anju, so he endured. He started to suck and move, making Master grunt in pleasure. He grabbed Kusachi's head pushing his hips forward as he came with a loud groan, and thus forced Kusachi to swallow his cum. Master let go of him, and Kusachi pulled back. A little bit of saliva mixed with cum ran down his chin from the corner of his mouth and he wiped it off. He was given only a few minutes, so Master could get decent again, before he was hauled off for his punishment. As he was chained up, and the whip hit him, the pain was intense, but to Kusachi it still came second when compared to what Master had just done to him._

***Flashback over***

Kusachi shuddered at the memory. He gagged slightly, but didn't throw up. He sat up, ignoring the pain in his back. Something, an instinct, told him to train. Training would help take his mind off things. He started doing pushups on the cold floor. He didn't get past ten, before his back protested too badly for him to ignore. He let himself collapse on the floor, in pain both mentally and physically. He eventually fell asleep, and fell into the world of dreams. Tonight, his dreams were nightmares of a cruel man and his green haired pet.

He woke up to hands holding him gently. Disoriented and confused he didn't recognize who was holding him, and flinched away violently, looking around with panic his mind finally registered that it was Anju who was in there with him, not Master. He let out a breath and his body visibly relaxed. Anju looked at him with concern.

"What happened to you, nii-chan?" she asked, her voice better, but still slightly rough.

"Nothing, little sis. I'll be fine" he said, though even to himself it sounded false. Anju watched him, but accepted the answer when she realized she wouldn't get another one. She handed him a plate with a slice of bread and a glass of water. He ate and drank in silence as she watched. He knew this was probably the only meal he'd get today, and so he took his time, a vague memory of fine cuisine cooked by a familiar man hit him, but faded almost immediately. After all, he had always been a slave, hadn't he? He studied Anju while he ate. She looked tired and sad. As every slave here she was skinnier than what was healthy, and her eyes seemed hollow. The bruises around her neck had faded a little, but not much.

"Anju... " Kusachi hesitated.

"Do you think we will ever be free? And don't lie to me!" Anju said. She looked at him with blue eyes, which should have been innocent, but instead shone with pain and suffering beyond her years

"I don't know, Anju. But we can't give up" he said with a sigh. He looked towards the barred window of his room with longing. He certainly hoped they'd be free someday. But it seemed very unlikely. He stood up as Anju left and closed the door. He walked over towards the bench he was supposed to sleep on. He had learned quickly that the large bed was off limits, even though it was in his room. Before he reached the bench the ship shook as a massive wave hit it. He lost his balance and fell on his back. Kusachi hissed in pain as the fresh wounds made contact with the floor.

He was actually allowed to rest the next few days. Probably so the wounds on his back wouldn't get too infected. After all, treatments could be expensive. Anju came with food and water for him, and made sure he ate up, even those times he felt too sick to do so. What Master had done to him had made him feel so filthy, and some days Kusachi honestly wondered if it would be better to just give up. Those thoughts were quickly subdued, though, as he remembered telling Anju to not give up. He would make it. Hopefully someone would help them... someday...

"Master wishes to see you, Kusa nii-chan" Anju said sullenly, as Kusachi finished eating. Kusachi seemed to freeze, before he let her fasten a chain to his collar. He followed her with a bowed head as she led him to Master's room.

"It'll be okay, Kusa nii-chan" she said, and opened the door. Leaving Kusachi alone with Master.

Master looked at Kusachi and smiled wickedly.

"Hello, kitten. How are you feeling? Are your wounds healing nicely?" he asked in mock concern. Kusachi looked away, refusing to meet the man's eyes. The chain was harshly pulled at, and Kusachi was dragged along, wincing as the cold metal scraped against his skin.

"You will answer when I ask you a question, Slave!" he shouted at Kusachi.

"Do you understand?" Master struck Kusachi once more, tossing him to the floor. Kusachi landed roughly on his wrist. It hurt, but didn't seem broken or sprained, luckily.

"Y-yes Master" he said. Master grinned again.

"Good. Now, you already know the deal. You please me, and the little slave girl stays safe. So get to work! Oh, and when you're done, you can help out up on deck. It seems that my men are tired, and you might be needed to carry things for them" Master said, as if he was talking about simple everyday chores that even a child could do. Kusachi got on his knees before the man, and began his work.

When he was lead back to his own room that night he was exhausted. Master's men were well aware that he was a slave, and made sure to exploit him as much as they could. He had to carry everything for them, and he had to do the hard manual labor. Well, he and the two other male slaves aboard, but for some reason they seemed to favor Kusachi. Once he had sat down on his bench he immediately felt ill. The work had forced him to think of other things, but now that he was alone the impact of what Master had made him do hit him. He bent over and gagged. As he fell off the bench he vomited up the meager breakfast he had had that morning, along with the semen Master had made him swallow. "Koibito", who had peeked in, sneered at him and threw him a bucket of soapy water, and a rag.

"Master said to give you that to clean yourself with" she said, before she spat on him.

"And make sure to clean that mess too!" Kusachi was beginning to really hate that woman. She was foul and disillusioned, thinking she was better than the other slaves, when she was one too, as one could clearly see from her collar! Koibito left and he began cleaning, first himself, very roughly, and carefully avoiding getting soap in the wounds on his back. Then he began cleaning the vomit, nearly puking again while doing so.

A little later Anju sneaked in. She closed the door and sat down beside him.

"How come you always get in here?" he wondered. She smiled at him.

"I have the keys. I was given them once, to get some stuff, and I just made sure I kept yours and my own. I'm always obedient around the others, so no one suspects me" she smiled, but her smile soon faded and a frown took its place.

"But Kusa nii-chan... You are obviously bothered by something. You don't have to tell me what, but did Master do something to you?" she asked. Kusachi nodded slightly, and sent her a weak smile.

"It's alright though. I'll be fine" he assured her. She looked worried, but let it drop. Instead she embraced him, noticing the slight wince as she did so, and began singing softly, quietly.

"_The king and his men_

_Stole the queen from her bed_

_And bound her in her Bones._

_The seas be ours_

_And by the powers_

_Where we will we'll roam._

_Yo, ho, all hands,_

_Hoist the colors high._

_Heave ho, thieves and beggars,_

_Never shall we die_"* She continued to sing the song her father once had taught her, and she saw the man she considered her brother fall asleep. She left quietly, sneaking back into her own sleeping room. She coughed harshly into the palm of one hand, wincing as she saw the blood that now stained her palm.

"I hope you'll be saved, Kusa, even if I don't" she said honestly before she fell asleep.

Another two months passed in much the same manner. Kusachi would be awoken, eat a slice of bread, and if he was lucky, a little meet. The crew would give him orders and tasks for the day, usually manual labor, and every once and a while Master would call Kusachi into his room so that the slave could please him. Anju would visit some days and talk to him, or even sing to him at times. Kusachi was beginning to get used to the routine, it was all he remembered after all. He'd even begun to get used to being whipped or hit for every small mistake he made. Some days he was exhausted and sloppier than others, resulting in crueler whippings, but for the most part he was good, and the crew let him be, with the exception of the chef, who for some reason strongly disliked Kusachi.

But things were about to take a turn for the worse. Kusachi had just gotten back to his room when there was a knock on the door. It confused him, as usually the ones entering would just go inside without warning. A man entered and Kusachi's blood ran cold as he noticed who it was. Master had come down to his room! Kusachi backed towards the wall, and stumbled slightly as a particularly strong wave hit the ship. Master approached him.

"Hello, kitten" he said with a lusty smirk.

"How are you feeling nowadays?" he asked with false concern. Kusachi looked down on the floor, his now longer hair covered his face slightly. Not quite covering his eyes, but close, as Master forbade anyone from cutting it.

"F-fine..." he stuttered. Master's smirk widened, and he grabbed Kusachi's chin, forcing the man's head up.

"Good" he said, and stole a rough, sloppy kiss. Kusachi didn't respond, but had learned not to object either. His eyes widened as Master pushed him onto the bed. The bed he had been strictly forbidden to touch. Kusachi lay for a second, just feeling the comfort of soft sheets and a mattress under his back. He couldn't remember ever having felt something that comfy. But the pleasure and comfort didn't last long, as he quickly sat up, looking confused towards Master.

"Tonight, kitten, I have decided you are ready for the fulfillment of the bond we share. The bond of Master, and Slave" Kusachi flinched, and tried to move away. Sure he had sucked the man, but this was something very different. Master quickly grabbed his wrist with one hand and slapped him with the other. He flipped Kusachi over, so he now lay on his stomach.

"Lay still, slave!" he said, and began tying Kusachi to the bed. The boy struggled, but as he was tired, hungry and overall weakened, and so he was no match for the man. Especially since the man was straddling him, keeping him down. His wrists and ankles were tied to the bed. He could still move slightly, but not enough to put up any resistance at all. Hands ran over his chest, over to his back, and down to the lining of his pants. Kusachi froze as the hands began pulling. He started to squirm, trying to get away from Master.

"Please stop!" he begged. "Please stop it!" Master simply chuckled at the pleadings.

'To think the great pirate hunter Zoro is begging me to stop' he thought with glee as he pulled the pants down completely. Kusachi tried harder to get away from the hands, which were now feeling up his ass. He felt tears moistening his face. He didn't want this!

"Don't!" he yelled as Master began preparing him, using his fingers.

"As you wish, kitten" the man chuckled darkly and removed his hands from Kusachi's ass, only to place them on his waist instead. Kusachi realized what the man had planned, and began tugging at the ropes tying him down. But to no avail. All that did was give him wounds around his wrists and ankles, making him bleed, and it would probably leave some nasty scars too, in addition to the ones already there. Kusachi screamed as Master firmly held his hips and entered him dry.

He was left in the bed when Master considered himself done. Untied, but still naked, covered only by a thin blanket. He curled up, clutching his knees to his chest, letting out sobs that would have broken his nakama's hearts had they heard him. He felt so weak. If he couldn't protect himself, how could he protect Anju? Or anyone else for that matter. And as if that wasn't enough he felt so... filthy. Like he would never be clean again. He shuddered and wiped away the tears staining his face, before slowly falling asleep.

Anju had come by a few days later, to find Kusachi spacing out, looking lost.

"Kusa nii-chan... Are you alright?" she asked, concern staining her voice. He snapped out of it, and looked at her with saddened eyes. He simply nodded.

"Don't lie to me, nii-chan. I hate when people do that..." she stated with a stern look. She repeated her initial question of whether or not he was alright. He seemed to hesitate a while before shaking his head.

"What happened?" she wondered. He simply shook his head, desperately wiping at the tears that began to run down his face. Dammit! He didn't want her to see him like that. Anju seemed stunned for a minute. She had never seen him like this before! She walked over to him and tried to pull him into a hug, but was shocked as he not only flinched violently, but actually panicked and backed off into the wall, so hard that his head slammed into it with a loud thud, before slipping down to the floor. Anju looked at him, and a light seemed to have been lit for her. Tears escaped her eyes as she realized what had been done to him. Sure, she had been asked to give Master hand-jobs before, but he had clearly gone much farther with Kusachi, and apparently it had broken the boy.

"I'm so sorry, Kusa! I... I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. Kusachi had calmed down, and reached out to the girl. He pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, Anju. It'll be okay... There's nothing you could've done..." he said. Anju left the room shortly after. Hoping Kusachi, her ''big brother'', would be okay.

'It's my own fault... Maybe if I'd protected myself better, or obeyed more... Maybe if I had done a better job at what his crew asked of me, maybe then he wouldn't have done this to me...' he thought as a single tear streaked his face.

* * *

Sanji looked to the starry sky. He seemed to do that a lot now. They had stopped searching for Zoro around two or three months ago, but every time they stopped at an island everyone paid extra attention just in case any clue as to where the swordsman was would show up. The rest of the crew was asleep. Sanji inhaled his smoke and slammed a fist into the railing.

"Dammit, marimo! Why did this have to happen?" he cussed. Something wet dripped onto his hand, and he realized he was crying. He fell to his knees.

"Fuck it!" he let out a sob. The swordsman was the first official member of their pirate crew. He was important to them all, and not knowing what had really happened to him was... horrible. If they at least knew where he was it might be a little easier to bear, but not knowing anything... Damn! It shouldn't hurt this much!

"Where are you, Zoro..." he whispered.

* * *

"Hello, kitten" Master said, and pulled Kusachi by the leash attached to his collar. Kusachi followed, only wincing slightly by the pain of the collar being yanked like that.

"Master" he greeted with a deep bow. Master grinned and gave him a kiss to the forehead. Kusachi held back a disgusted shudder.

"Today we're going to mark you as mine forever, kitten. Only a few chosen slaves get my mark." Master smirked. He had taken to calling Kusachi "kitten" now, much like he called that slave woman "Koibito"

"M-mark me?" Kusachi stuttered. Master slapped him hard. A ring on his finger cut into Kusachi's cheek, making a bleeding cut under his eye, not unlike Luffy's scar, but longer, more angled and on the opposite side.

"Do not question me!" Kusachi cringed, and bowed before his master.

"I'm sorry, Master" he said. Master gripped his leash tight, and pulled him along, up onto the deck of the ship. Kusachi followed obediently, his eyes squinting slightly as the sun hit his face.

"Now, if you behave, you might get a warm meal tonight" Master said, and Kusachi immediately listened closer. After so long with only bread and water, a hot meal sounded heavenly. Suddenly his arms were gripped and tied up, and he was stuck. A man, one of Master's loyal subordinates, handed a long metal rod to Master. Kusachi's eyes widened as he realized what this was. Master was going to brand him. Burn a slave mark into his skin. He began to pull on the ropes restraining him, but to no avail. Master grabbed him by the hair and held him still before touching the glowing metal to the skin on Kusachi's chest. It burned, and it was painful. Kusachi barely held back screams of pain. When it finally was over Master pet his head.

"You were good, kitten" he said, and left. Kusachi was put to work almost immediately. He and some other slaves had to scrub the deck, and they had to do it well, because the pirate crew held whips ready to hit them if they didn't work hard enough.

Soon Kusachi was thrown into his room again. He tried to refrain from touching the burnt skin, but looked at the mark in disgust. It was a simplified wing with the kanji symbol for slave under it. Kusachi recognized the wing. It was a part of this crew's jolly roger. This ugly burn scar would forever mark him as their slave, and he hated it. He wanted it gone. He lifted a hand to claw the mark away, but another hand grabbed his before he could do anything. Master had arrived.

"Now, now, kitten. That wouldn't do any good. You'd only get the brand ruined, and then we'd have to brand you again" he scolded as if he was talking to a child. Kusachi stopped, and looked at Master, without meeting his eyes. He let his arms go limp, he wouldn't fight.

"That's better. Now, let's eat" Master announced, and the chef came in, placing two plates on the table. Master sat down by the one with the most food, and signaled for Kusachi to take a seat. Kusachi sat down. He looked at the food. Master had a huge steak, potatoes, salad, gravy and more, plus a glass of wine on the side. Kusachi on the other hand had a tiny piece of the same type of steak, half a potato and a little lettuce, with a glass of water to drink. Even so he ate it gladly. It was the most food he'd had in one meal since he'd arrived here. When he was done eating he had to wait for Master to finish, before he could stand up.

"Was it tasty, kitten?" Kusachi nodded. Master smirked.

"Get on the bed then. Show me your gratitude!" he demanded. Kusachi had no choice but to obey. He got onto the bed and shuddered as Master began removing his clothes. It had happened several times since the first time. Kusachi had stopped protesting after only a few times, but he still screamed. Master liked it when he did, and when he didn't scream Master would make him scream. But this time, just as master had removed his pants, the door creaked open, and Anju entered.

"No! Anju, get out!" Kusachi yelled. Master grabbed his face and glared at him, before throwing him to the floor.

"Silence, kitten. Slave girl, you have opposed me. You are not supposed to be here!" Master snarled, as he held Kusachi to the floor. Anju tried to back out, but Master fired a gun. He hit her hand.

"NO!" Kusachi shouted. Anju held her hand close to her chest, and glared at Master.

"You will stay here now!" he growled at her, she obeyed, but kept scowling at him. Kusachi looked down in shame. Master moved again, and seemed intent on fucking Kusachi, even with the girl in the room.

"Stop it!" she shouted as Master started. He sent her a dirty look as she coughed.

"Don't do that to him, please!" she begged. Tears ran down her face. That was when Kusachi noticed. Blood! Not from her injured hand, but from the corner of her mouth. She had coughed up blood!

"Shut up, slave!" Master shouted, but she ignored him. Instead she glared at him, choosing to sing, just to defy him. Her hoarse voice rang through the room.

"_Yoho, haul together_

_Hoist the colours high_" Master made a growling noise as he raised his arm and shot her again, this time hitting her shoulder. She cried out in pain, and Kusachi could do nothing but stare at her, wide eyed as she kept singing with clenched teeth.

"_Heave, ho, thieves and beggars_" she sang and walked closer

"Stop it, Anju... He'll kill you!" Kusachi said. Anju looked at him with sad eyes.

"I don't care, Kusa nii-chan. I'm dying already..." she said, before walking up to Master and spitting in his face!

"_Never shall we die_" she sang with a sneer as the spit, mixed with blood ran down Master's face. He wiped it off and glared at her defiant posture. Master fired one more shot, hitting her right between the eyes. Kusachi watched in horror as his surrogate sister fell to the floor, dead. One could practically see the exact moment the former pirate hunter finally broke completely. His gaze went blank and he stopped resisting Master. Master grinned sadistically and thought to himself

'Had I known that was the way to break Roronoa Zoro I would have done it a long time ago'

Meanwhile in another part of the ship, the slave-woman who had named herself Koibito was fuming. That green haired slave had taken Master's attention away from her! She was his favorite before he came along! She even bore his mark, proudly too! And now he had gotten it! He! The filthy, disobedient boy! She was so much better than him! He was untrained, untamed, disobedient and opposing! She had been brought up as a slave. She knew to obey, and she liked it. She was obedient, caring and most of all loyal to her master! So how could he take her place as his favorite? She didn't understand it at all! She wanted her master's "love" back. She wanted to be his favorite again! And in order for that to happen, she'd have to get rid of the green haired one somehow. But how?

* * *

**the song is called Hoist the colors and is originally from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I thought the mood of it would fit the story. (Also I really like the song :P )

And here's how I avoid Mary Sue's and such. I kill OC's off... yeah... I'm cruel like that.

Anyway, please review. It makes me update faster ;D


	4. Found

**A/N:**_Hi, I've got a small update for you :) Again, thank you all so much for the reviews. I want you to know that I appreciate it and I do take the criticism and advices some of you come with to heart, as it will help improve my writing. So whether you simply say "cool" or you come with a full review with several hundred words, I really appreciate it :D Thank you all so much! (fyi, this story already has more reviews than any of my other ones O.o)_

__**Warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1. **

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Found**

Kusachi obeyed every order. He did everything his Master wanted him to. Because he had no other choice. He could fight, but that would only end badly, either for him or others. He could try to escape, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. So he obeyed. He did what he was told. He put all his heart and mind into working for Master. Because if he didn't he'd only start to think. About his "sister", whom he failed to protect. About what Master had done to him, and about all that had happened since he arrived at this accursed ship roughly six months ago. Kusachi picked up the cleaning rag from the bucket, and continued scrubbing the floor. The man watching him would occasionally swing the whip down near Kusachi to get him to work faster, and sometimes it actually hit him, cutting into his skin. But he did not complain. He couldn't, he was merely a slave, and this was how slaves should be treated after all. If he was stubborn and disobedient he'd end up like... like Anju. So he buried the piece of him, that little voice in his head, which claimed he was better than this. That he had more pride than this. He didn't allow that part to live. Because a slave cannot be like that. Master entered the room he was in.

"Come, kitten. We have anchored up near an island, and I need you to come with me." he said and pulled on the leash. Kusachi followed obediently

'like a little pet' Master thought with glee. He pulled the boy along, going from the ship, onto the island. Kusachi barely registered the things around him, only focusing on keeping up with Master, and not mess up. People looked at him strangely. Wondering why he was on a leash, and why he didn't do anything about it. Kusachi hesitated when he saw a store with a very nice looking katana on display in the window. It called to him somehow... A sharp tug on his leash brought him back to the situation at hand. Master hit him, hard enough to send him into the ground.

"Keep up, we're not here to buy things for you, slave!" he hissed at Kusachi.

"I apologize, Master" Kusachi answered and stat up. Before he got the chance to stand up, a man approached Master. He was tall and had slightly long, red hair. One of his eyes had three scars crossing it, and he wore a cape that covered one of his arms.

"Excuse me, but what exactly are you doing to that boy?" he said. He was clearly angry, which confused Kusachi. Why would the man be angry? Kusachi was after all merely a slave, not something that man should care about.

"He is my slave. I can do with him as I please!" Master said and narrowed his eyes at the man.

"He is a human being!" the man said with a furious tone. He then crouched down and helped Kusachi up.

"Are you ok? What's your name?" he asked. Though he felt the boy seemed familiar.

"I'm alright. I do not have a name..." Kusachi answered. The red haired man glared at Master. Master glared right back.

"I am Hagewashi, captain of the Vulture pirates! So you'd better back off and stay away from my slave, one-arm!" he said, thinking he could intimidate the other pirate. The red haired one simply raised an eyebrow. Only then did Kusachi notice that the red haired man had only one arm. The man let out a laugh.

"You think that intimidates me? But I'll play along, how much do you want for him?" he said.

'I'll buy him from this asshole, and then I'll release him. Maybe he'll even become a part of my crew...' was what he thought.

"He ain't for sale. Sorry. Now excuse me. I have some errands to run." Master growled, and pulled Kusachi along. As Kusachi passed the red haired man he heard him whisper.

"Don't give up, young one..." Before he knew it they couldn't see the man anymore. When they got back to the ship that evening one of the crew members came up to Master.

"Master! They're saying that red-haired Shanks was on this island!" he said.

"So that was who it was! Heh, he didn't seem all that strong at all!" Master snickered.

A few days later, and Kusachi was back in his room after a tiring day of hard work, and of course his Master had to pay him a visit so that Kusachi could please him. Kusachi looked out his window. The sky was starry, and not a cloud was in sight. The moon shone brightly as if beckoning him out there. And he so wanted out there, to be free. He couldn't remember ever being free, but he imagined it would be a great thing. A ship sailed in the distance. It would probably be fun... being on a ship without being a slave...

Dawn was approaching. He could tell from the slight hint of light in the horizon. The door creaked as it was opened and Kusachi turned around. He expected to see either Master, or one of Master's subordinates. Instead he saw Koibito. The dark haired woman entered the room and scowled at him.

"Master told me to get you" she said. Kusachi walked over to her. She looked at him with disgust.

"Give me your hands" she demanded. Kusachi obeyed, and stuck his hands out. She tied them together, as he expected, and began pulling him along. She yanked the rope harder than necessary, and deliberately made him trip at times, until she stopped. They stood on deck of the ship, near the railing.

"Master said you should stand by the railing and wait for him, kitten" she spat. Kusachi was slightly confused. Why would he want that? Suddenly Koibito pushed him. His eyes widened as he fell over the edge, pummeling down towards the waves of the water. As he fell he heard her shout.

"Now I'll be his favorite again!" She ran back inside. He hit the water with a splash, and was pulled away from the ship by the waves. He coughed and spluttered as he desperately tried to keep his head over the surface of the water, but with his hands tied together like this it was nearly impossible. He felt scared. He would probably either drown or be eaten by some sea king. He was pulled under again by the currents. He was thrown around under water. As much as he tried to keep holding his breath he just couldn't anymore. He felt himself slip away into unconsciousness, secretly thankful for at least dying without too much pain.

* * *

Usopp had been up for a few hours, as he was on lookout duty. He had just gone down from the crow's nest and decided to try catching some fish. Just to get his mind of things. Zoro had been missing for six months now. Half a year! They had no clue where he could be, but not one of them would give up on him. Even though they weren't searching anymore they still kept looking around wherever they went. The long nosed marksman sighed as he tried to catch some fish.

"Zoro... I sure hope you're still alive, somewhere. We all miss you..." he muttered, as he began reeling in. He felt something tug on the line.

"Whoa! This is one heavy fish!" he exclaimed. It was a good thing their fishing line was strong enough to pull in a sea king! Usopp pulled, but it was a bit too heavy for him. He soon realized he'd need help. Hesitantly he called Franky's name. The cyborg came towards him, seemingly not tired at all.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Could you give me a hand? This is one heavy fish" Usopp said, gesturing to the fishing rod. Franky walked over and began pulling with Usopp. Finally they got the fish on board, only to find that it wasn't a fish at all.

"Is that..." Franky began

"Zoro!" Usopp finished. They looked at the green haired soaked man on the floor.

"H-he's not breathing!" Usopp exclaimed. Franky immediately went to get Chopper. Usopp remembered some lessons he'd had in first aid, specifically CPR, and began to push down on Zoro's chest. Chopper arrived just as Zoro responded to Usopp's treatment, and coughed up water. He was still unconscious, but at least he was breathing. Chopper immediately began to check his pulse and breathing.

"His pulse is slightly fast, but he's out of any immediate danger. Thanks to you Usopp" he said. Usopp looked slightly proud, but mostly he was concerned. Could this really be Zoro? This skinny boy with torn clothes and hair that looked nearly as long as Usopp's…

"Uhm... Chopper, what is that?" Usopp asked, as he finally noticed the collar around Zoro's neck. Chopper gasped and reached out to touch the cold metal. Just then, Zoro opened his eyes. He jumped back, and away from the human reindeer's big hands.

"Where am I?" he asked. The three pirates looked confused.

"Don't you recognize it? You're on board the Thousand Sunny!" the blue haired cyborg explained. Kusachi still looked confused. He had no idea where he was! He remembered being pushed off the ship, so this had to be another one. That meant these people had saved him. More people came out to them. A orange haired woman, a black haired boy with a straw hat, a black haired woman, a skeleton? and... a blonde man with a curled eyebrow and a cigarette in hand. They all seemed familiar, but that blonde one... something seemed extra familiar about him... Suddenly a thought struck Kusachi.

'I'm actually free! That bitch threw me off the ship hoping to kill me, but instead... she freed me!' the collar around his neck seemed to prove him wrong, but he wouldn't think of that for now. Also... these people had saved him, he had to thank them...

"T-thank you, for saving me" he said. Kneeling to the floor and bowing, much like he had done with Master. The straw hat looked at him strangely.

"What are you talking about, Zoro? We had to. You're nakama!" he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kusachi looked even more confused.

"Zoro? Who's Zoro?" he asked, before remembering what Master had beaten into him. He was not supposed to ask questions. He closed his eyes, expecting a punch, or another form of punishment. When it didn't come, he was confused. The entire crew looked shocked.

"What do you mean? If you're not... then... What's your name?" someone asked. Kusachi didn't know which one.

"I don't have a name. I am only a slave, and slaves don't have names" he said. It had been imprinted in him, and was an automatic response now.

The crew stared at him. Shocked at his words. What had happened?

* * *

**A/N: **_Before you say anything. Yes. This chapter is very short. Don't worry though. I'll be sure to post the next one within 24 hours ;)_


	5. Scarred

**A/N:** _Another update, so soon :D _

**Warnings in chapter 1. **

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Scarred**

The straw hat pirates were in shock. How could someone turn Zoro into this? Because it had to be Zoro. They could see the scar from his fight with Mihawk where the shirt was torn. And who else would have that green hair, and those three earrings? When he said he had no name Nami gasped, and fell to her knees. Robin looked stunned, Franky, chopper and Brook began blubbering. Usopp felt tears run down his face. Sanji had dropped his smoke, and was gaping at the broken swordsman. Luffy... Luffy looked ready to beat someone up. Chopper moved closer to Zoro. The green haired boy flinched slightly, but didn't try to get away. The reindeer quickly removed the ropes around Zoro's wrists. Holding back a gasp at the scars they had hidden.

"Can you remove your shirt?" Chopper asked. Zoro obeyed immediately, not putting up a protest, though he tried to keep his back hidden, and he kept a hand over the slave mark, not revealing it to the crew.

"Please... s-show me your back..." Chopper said, concerned about what he might find. The pirates were surprised that Zoro actually obeyed so easily. Normally he'd put up a fight, claiming he would be fine. As he revealed his back to them, they were stunned. He was covered in scars from whippings and other forms of punishments. Some of the wounds were still fresh, even bleeding.

The reindeer-doctor touched Kusachi's back gently, examining the wounds, and the scars. The slave winced slightly, but soon held perfectly still. He had been taught to, after all.

"I need to bandage these wounds. They might not scar if I can treat them quickly enough, but I can't guarantee anything..." the doctor said. Kusachi looked at him in awe. Why would he want to treat him? Shouldn't he keep the scars? Master had said they were evidence of his disobedience, and that he should keep them as a reminder of it.

Nami, Franky and Robin couldn't stand it anymore, and walked into the kitchen. Nami was supported by Robin, as she tried to hold back sobs. Seeing their nakama like this was so painful. Chopper wanted to bring Zoro into the infirmary, but the swordsman seemed to prefer being outside, so he'd allow it for now. He bandaged the wounds, and told Zoro to get some rest.

Chopper entered the kitchen with Usopp, Sanji and Luffy, joining the others.

"Who could have done this to him?"

"I hardly recognize him..."

"How is he?" the crew was concerned for their nakama.

"Physically he'll be fine after a while. He's a little emaciated, and will need to eat a lot to get healthy again, and he will have a lot of scars. But he will heal..." Chopper explained.

"Mentally, however, is another case. He has been treated as a slave for half a year, and I think he has retrograde amnesia from a hard blow to the head, which explains why he can't remember us. I don't know what they did to him, but to break him like this it would have to have been bad..." the doctor wiped away tears.

"Will he remember us again?" Usopp asked.

"It's hard to know... Amnesia is hard to predict. He could have lost the memories completely, and never get them back, or he could remember after a while. Only time will tell... Some cases have lived their entire lives without ever regaining their memories. Others have regained them soon after. It varies greatly" Robin said. The pirates looked down and weary.

"Do you think we can remove the collar?" Nami wondered. Chopper shook his head.

"Not without harming him. We need the key..." he told them with teary eyes. Sanji stood up.

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked.

"He hasn't had a proper meal since he was caught, right? I'll bring him some food" Sanji said, before picking up the food he'd made, and walking outside.

Kusachi was sitting, completely still, staring at the sky when the blond approached him. The chef placed the plates of food in front of him. Kusachi looked at him. His gaze asking why, but he remained silent.

"You need food." The blond man said and sat down next to him.

"and I'll make sure you eat it" Kusachi looked at the chef, and tasted the food carefully. It was delicious. He'd never eaten anything this good before! Still, he ate slowly, as if he expected the other to remove the food anytime, and hit him for eating it.

"You really don't remember us?" the curly-brow half asked, half stated. Kusachi shook his head and looked confused. The cook sighed, and lit a cigarette.

"I am Sanji. I am the cook of the Straw Hat pirates. Luffy's the captain. He's the boy with the straw hat." Sanji explained. He told Kusachi about all of the crews members, what they did for the group, how they acted and even how they would normally fight.

"You are Roronoa Zoro..." he said. He didn't explain anything else. The green haired boy would have to find that out on his own. But he should at least know his name!

"Why? Why are you doing this for me? Master never would allow any of this... so why do you?" Kusachi asked. He was confused, and hoped the blond wouldn't hit him for asking, but he needed to know.

"Are you kidding me? We are nakama! Of course we have to help each other!" Sanji exclaimed. He then sighed and pulled a hand through his hair.

"Look, you and I weren't the closest, but we're still nakama, ok? We are supposed to help each other out" he threw a tired smile to the ex-slave. Kusachi looked at him and bowed his head.

"T-thank you" he said.

Sanji almost choked. This Zoro was so broken, and so different from what he was used to. That thank you had been so sincere, and so emotional... Zoro took another bite of the food, and his shirt slipped a little down. Sanji saw the scar tissue of burnt skin.

"What's that?" he asked. Zoro froze and clutched the shirt.

"Zoro..." Sanji reached out and removed the hand. Zoro let him. He looked down in shame, and pulled the shirt up, revealing the slave mark.

"He branded me. So that... so that I'd be marked as his..." he said. Tears stinging his eyes, though he refused to let them fall. Sanji was shocked. Branding Zoro like this was cruel and very shocking to him. It marked him as a slave, even if the collar was removed. It angered Sanji to see the swordsman like this. All because of that asshole that had stolen him!

"That's bullshit! You belong to no one but yourself! Do you hear me, Zoro! You better remember this. You belong only to yourself!" Sanji stated.

Kusachi was amazed.

"Sanji... kun..." he said silently as the cook went to his kitchen again. Kusachi remained sitting there. Maybe they were telling the truth... Maybe he had been one of them once... After all... this blonde, Sanji, was so familiar... He had seen him before. Dreamed of him even... Could it really be?

Sanji sat down in a chair.

"How did it go?" Nami asked. Sanji was too tired to fawn over the girls, and simply answered directly.

"Well... he ate the food. But he's so... I don't know... broken, I guess. He actually asked why we helped him!" he said exasperatedly, letting out a heavy sigh.

"I hope he'll be able to remember us soon..." Usopp said. The others agreed quietly. He had at least not lost too much muscle, probably due to some heavy manual labor. The Straw Hat pirates finished talking and began getting ready for bed instead.

Zoro kept staring at the horizon until night fell. For once he wasn't in pain, or in captivity. He still wasn't sure if he could trust these people, but he would try to, for now. After all, they hadn't tried to harm him yet, and that was at least something. Maybe there was hope still... He yawned and stretched.

'If only I could remove the two things marking me as a slave... The fucking collar and the damned mark...' he thought. But maybe he could at least hide them... He could use a scarf to cover the collar, and cover the mark with a Band-Aid or something like that. Maybe he'd ask these pirates to help him with it in the morning... After a while of thinking he finally fell asleep. Not hungry, and not in pain for the first time in six months.

* * *

**A/N: **_I felt bad for posting such a short chapter... so I updated quickly... but this one's even shorter T.T sorry. _

_anyway please review..._


	6. Memories

**A/N:** _Chapter 6 everyone! And this story now officially has more reviews than all my others combined :D I love you guys! Enjoy_

_**Warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1**  
_

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Memories**

A week had passed since Zoro had rejoined the Straw Hat pirates. He had slowly gotten used to being with them. It had been confusing for him at first, as he didn't understand why they weren't ordering him around, but he was more used to it now. Though every now and then he would slip into old habits and refer to one of them as "master" or expect a form of punishment for no reason. He was slowly getting rid of these habits, though, and the crew seemed to be more relaxed around him as well. Also he was getting very used to being referred to as "Zoro" instead of "Kitten" or "Slave". He liked that. It felt much more right. He had also developed a new habit. He seemed to stick around Sanji a lot. He couldn't help it, he liked the blond, he felt more familiar to him. But he was being discreet about it. He made sure it didn't seem too suspect. Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him and wrapped around him. A body slammed into his and clung to him. He immediately froze up. Flashbacks of his time as a slave for Master hit him and he began shuddering.

"G-get off me! Please, get off!" he begged.

Luffy was confused. He had just grabbed Zoro, and intended to hug him, it wasn't exactly uncommon for him to do such things, but Zoro had reacted so badly! Luffy let go as soon as Zoro talked. Zoro backed into the wall and crouched down with his hands raised to protect his head. He looked absolutely terrified. Luffy tried moving closer

"Zoro... What's wrong?" he asked. The ex-slave tried backing farther away. When he found himself unable to, he seemed to give up. He moved closer to the captain, and bowed before him.

"I-I'll be good. Please don't!" he begged quietly. Luffy was horrified. What had that asshole done to Zoro exactly? The girls, Brook and Franky were currently inside the ship somewhere, but the rest of the crew had noticed what was going on. Chopper turned into his human form and moved closer to Zoro in an attempt to calm him down, but it only resulted in him panicking even more.

"Zoro! What's wrong?" Sanji asked, nearly cursing himself for the concern in his voice. Zoro whipped his head around and looked at the cook. Sanji could practically feel his heart breaking at the sight of him. Zoro's face was stained in tears and he looked so afraid. His eyes seemed to focus on Sanji, and he shook his head.

"S-Sanji-kun?" he questioned. Sanji was slightly shocked. He recognized him? Sanji crouched before him, and watched as Zoro actually moved closer to him, seemingly hiding behind him. Zoro gripped Sanji's jacket and clutched it like a lifeline. Chopper lead Luffy away, probably to talk to him, and discuss what could have happened to Zoro.

"Oi, Zoro. What exactly happened to you? What did that bastard do to you?" Sanji asked, as he gently held Zoro. It was... strange, seeing the usually strong swordsman act like this. Zoro looked down, refusing to meet the blonde's eyes.

"I... He..." he sighed and took a deep breath.

"He demanded obedience. If a slave disobeyed they'd be punished severely..." Sanji immediately recalled the nasty scars on Zoro's back.

"Once... he made me go without food, for a month..." Zoro said, green hair hanging over his eyes. It angered Sanji to hear that someone would use starvation as punishment. Having lived through a period of starvation himself, it was not a fate he wanted anyone to have to suffer.

"He'd get us whipped, starved and beaten, to teach us obedience... but... that wasn't so bad..." the green haired man said. Sanji looked at him in shock.

"How is that ''not so bad''? What could he possibly have done to make you think that way?" he asked, dreading the answer. Zoro looked up, with that broken look in his eyes, before looking back down.

"If... If there was a slave he... liked b-better than others he'd... he..." Zoro nearly choked, and Sanji was growing cold, he had a bad feeling about what would come next.

"He t-tied me up. He... I c-couldn't get loose! And... god, it hurt so bad! I... I couldn't fight him off... I was too weak!" the broken sobs escaping the swordsman spoke for themselves, but, as if to confirm Sanji's suspicion, Zoro spoke again.  
"He raped me…" the green haired boy admitted. Sanji was stunned. His cigarette had dropped to the ground, and he looked at the green haired boy.

"I'm sorry... Do you hate me?" Zoro asked quietly.

"What?"

"Do you hate me, now that you know what I l-let him do to me?" Sanji hadn't thought Zoro could shock him anymore that evening, but now he did.

"Why would I hate you for that? That asshole fucking raped you! That wasn't your fault! You know that, don't you?" he exclaimed. Zoro simply looked away. Sanji had to fight tears too now, because this... seeing Zoro act like this, it was so heartbreaking, so wrong, and it fucking hurt! He grabbed Zoro a little harder, nearly shaking him.

"Roronoa Zoro, what he did to you was not your fault! You were unarmed, he tied you up, you couldn't have done anything to stop him! He is the only one at fault here! You were abused, beaten and raped, Zoro! It's not your fault!" he nearly yelled as he spoke to Zoro, but he had to make him understand. He had heard about these sorts of incidents before, where the victim would blame themselves, and knew he had to make Zoro see that the one at fault wasn't him, but the rapist! Zoro looked at him with surprise in his eyes.

"You should probably get some more rest. You're still not completely healed and stuff..." Sanji suggested. Zoro nodded and walked off towards his hammock. When he had gone Sanji walked to Luffy and Chopper. The rest of the crew slowly joined them.

Sanji lit another cigarette. He exhaled the calming smoke as the crew sat down.

"Nah, Sanji, did Zoro tell you what was wrong?" Luffy asked. His face was completely serious, not a trace of that usual childish playfulness. Sanji sighed and nodded. The pirates looked at him expectantly, though silently fearing what he might tell them.

"Well... we already knew the ''slaves'' were punished with whippings and beatings, right? Zoro had even been starved, denied food for a month! And... well..." he pulled a hand through his hair.

"I'm not really sure if I should tell you this... It's... not good" he said and sighed as he thought it over for a while.

"I can't! It's not for me to tell. Just keep in mind that it's way worse than anything either of us has ever been through" he eventually said, earning a round of gasps. Luffy's gaze seemed to darken. He tilted his hat down so the shadow hid his eyes.

"I understand. And if we ever run into the guy who did this... I will kick his ass" he said with a ferocity they hadn't seen in him since they saved Robin. They could understand him though, because they thought pretty much the same too.

Zoro sat outside the next day, a little after dinner, staying a bit away from the rest of the crew, though he still had a pretty good view of the blond cook. Said cook was currently flirting with the girls, handing them intricately made desserts. Somehow that annoyed Zoro, but it also gave him a sense of déjà vu, as if it had happened before.

'It probably has, too. If I'm to believe what they said about me having amnesia and stuff' he thought with a shrug. Soon Sanji came up to him instead.

"Hey, Zoro. I have something I want you to see" he said. Zoro looked at him and nodded before following Sanji to another part of the ship. He opened a door, and told Zoro to wait outside. He walked in, and picked something up. He carried it out and closed the door, before turning around and presenting it to Zoro. Zoro's eyes widened as he saw what it was. A beautiful katana, white hilt and scabbard, was held in Sanji's hands.

"Wado Ichimonji" he whispered, not really knowing where he knew that from. The sword called to him, and he carefully took it from Sanji's arms. He pulled the sword from the sheath and held it as any swordsman would. As he sheathed it again, memories came flowing. He remembered Kuina, and her death, he remembered training so hard to be the best, and finally leaving the dojo. He remembered meeting Luffy, joining him, and meeting Nami, Usopp and Sanji. He remembered the battle against Mihawk, and he remembered his to other swords being broken. He remembered Arlong, and helping Nami, and he remembered arriving at Loguetown. He knew now, who he was, and he knew what his goal was. But he knew that he still didn't remember everything. It was rather clear, as he still didn't remember entering the Grand Line, and he still didn't remember how Going Merry was replaced by this Thousand Sunny. He didn't remember Chopper, Robin, Franky or Brook, so he knew he still had a way to go. But at least this was something... He looked at Sanji with wide eyes

"Sanji... I remember, you, Luffy, Usopp and Nami!" he nearly whispered. Sanji looked stunned before he shook his head and smiled.

"Good, maybe you'll remember everything soon, marimo" he said, teasingly. Zoro gave him a tired looking smile.

"Maybe, curly-brow" he said, and attached Wado at his hip. He traced his fingers along the line of a scar.

'Ironic, I said a scar on the back is disgraceful to a swordsman... and here I am, scarred all over... All because of that man. Fuck! I'll never bug Usopp about being scared again!' he thought with a shudder. No, he'd never say something like that to the marksman, because he now knew what it felt like to be so scared that you literally can't move!

"Oi, Zoro, are you coming or what?" Sanji said, snapping Zoro back to attention. He nodded and followed the blonde back onto deck.

'Heh, he actually uses my name now' he thought absentmindedly. It was a bit strange, after all he was used to the blonde calling him Marimo and stuff like that, even though Sanji had called him Zoro ever since he returned from Master's care, but it definitely wasn't bad. He kind of liked it. The way his name rolled off Sanji's tongue... He shook his head. What was he thinking? The blond certainly didn't see him like that, and he shouldn't think of him that way. Besides, even if he liked Sanji and if by some wild chance Sanji liked him, it could never happen. Master had broken him, and tainted him...

'I need something else to focus on' he thought. Well, he hadn't exactly been able to train properly for a while... He moved away from Sanji, and began doing pushups. He kept going and going, like he always used to...

He had just gotten to 400 pushups when he stopped and sighed heavily. He pulled his hand through his, now long, green hair. He let out a frustrated growl and, using his Wado, he cut through the green locks, cutting it much shorter, it seemed to be somewhere between the length Ace had and the length Luffy had. Because he was not going to let it stay that long. Master liked long hair, because then he could easily grip it and pull it. Zoro looked at the green hair on the floor, watching it as the wind pulled it along, blowing it away. He wished the memories of the slavery would just blow away too. But then again... the reminders would always be there, etched into his skin in the form of scars and a nasty burn mark. He glared at the mark, wanting it gone. He stood up, and began walking to the kitchen, he could see Sanji over by the girls, so he wouldn't have a problem there... He went in unnoticed and looked around. There! He picked up a knife and took a deep breath before cutting into the skin where the slave mark was. He dragged the knife across the brand, before repeating the process, ending up with a rather large carved x over the burnt skin. It hurt like hell, but he had felt worse. He heard something and turned around, in the doorway Sanji stood open mouthed.

"What did you do?" he asked the swordsman, horrified. Zoro looked at him.

"I couldn't have that mark on me. I'm not his anymore!" he said determinedly. Though Sanji could see the doubt in his eyes. Zoro didn't want to be a slave anymore, but in his mind he still was, and it would take some time for him to think otherwise, especially with the constant reminders in the form of scars and collar. Sanji nodded. He understood what Zoro meant.

"I understand... Well, while we're in here anyway, do you want something to eat?" he asked. Zoro looked at him and nodded slightly.

"Why not..." he simply said.

"What do you want?" the chef asked and inhaled the smoke of his cigarette. Zoro shrugged.

"I don't know. Just make whatever you want" he said. He had to admit that it was still weird for him, not having to obey at all times, being allowed to speak as he wanted to. Sanji nodded and pulled out some ingredients. Zoro looked at the cook working. The hands preparing the food so gently... Soon he was done, and placed the dish before him. It was a dessert, chocolate mousse with strawberries on the side. Zoro enjoyed the flavor and took his time eating. Watching Sanji eat his own as well.

"Did I ever get to replace the two Katana Mihawk broke?" Zoro asked after a while. Sanji nodded.

"Yeah. You got two new swords in Loguetown. Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, I believe you called them." he explained. Zoro nodded.

"Can you give them to me?" he asked. Sanji looked at him.

"Yubashiri was destroyed... but I can give back Sandai Kitetsu tomorrow. After we've had some sleep" he suggested. Zoro flashed him a tired smile and nodded.

"Sounds fine. You know, I don't think we've ever spoken this calmly together before..."

"I suppose you're right..."

Zoro sat with them at the dinner table later on, eating his meal in silence. The others looked at him. Robin was the first to speak.

"Your hair looks very nice like that, Zoro-kun" she smiled at him.

"Thanks..." he said and flashed them a weary smile.

"Nah, Zoro, will you come and play tag with Usopp, Chopper and me?" Luffy asked excitedly. Zoro looked at him, somewhat glad Luffy was acting normal.

"Maybe" he answered, taking another bite of his food.

"Do you remember anything yet?" Usopp blurted out. Almost regretting it immediately as he realized that it might be a tender subject. Surprisingly, though, the swordsman nodded.

"Yeah. I remember everything up until we arrived in Loguetown, then it gets fuzzy..." he explained. He watched as both Luffy and Chopper seemed to light up.

"That's great Zoro! Amnesiac patients usually regain their memories quickly once it begins, in most cases. It's what is called spontaneous recovery, which means that most memories come back rapidly!" Chopper said excitedly before moving on to a long speech about amnesia recovery and other stuff. Nothing of importance, just an excited rant from a very interested reindeer. Zoro tuned him out and instead opted to look at something else, spacing out slightly.

"Uhm... Zoro... What are you looking at?" Usopp asked after a while. Zoro suddenly focused and noticed that he had been staring at Sanji... again.

"Eh, nothing. I was just spacing out" he said, doing a decent job of holding back the blush that was threatening to break out.

'I do not blush!' he thought insistently. The sharpshooter looked somewhat skeptic, but didn't push it. When Zoro looked towards Robin he saw her smiling in that annoyingly knowing way of hers as he exited the room.

* * *

**A/N: **_That's all for now ;) I'll update as soon as I can ^^,_

_Please review :3_


	7. Trouble

**A/N:** _Another chapter for you all :D Enjoy ;)_

_**Warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1. **  
_

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Trouble**

When the next day arrived Zoro was walking with Sanji towards where the sword was stored. Sanji did as he had the previous day and went in to get the sword for him. He carried it out and placed it in the swordsman's hands. Zoro unsheathed it and looked at the blade. Just like Wado, this one was in perfect condition.

"Sandai Kitetsu" he said as he placed it back in the sheath and tied it back onto his hip, together with Wado Ichimonji. The memories returned. He could remember getting Kitetsu and Yubashiri in Loguetown, and he remembered entering the Grand Line, meeting Vivi and eventually Chopper. He remembered Alabasta and Crocodile, Robin joining their pirate crew, and going to Skypiea and fighting Enel. Not to mention Water 7 and Enies Lobby. And finally he remembered how he lost Yubashiri. Now he could recall everyone on the Thousand Sunny except Brook, though he still couldn't remember how they left Enies Lobby, how Franky joined or how they got the new ship... Grudgingly he had to admit it was partially thanks to the cook he even remembered this much. He turned to the blond.

"Thanks, Sanji" he said. Sanji looked only slightly surprised. He was slowly getting used to this new behavior of the swordsman.

"No problem... Zoro" he simply answered, while lightly touching Zoro's back. Zoro flinched slightly, though he tried to hide it. He hated being so weak! Unable to stop flashing back to what Master had done to him when someone touched him. And although he had tried hiding the flinch Sanji had noticed it.

"Zoro... " he began as he pulled his hand back. Zoro shook his head and walked away, intending to take a bath. Sanji was left standing there alone. He didn't try to follow Zoro, he had a feeling the man wanted to be left alone right now.

By pure luck only, Zoro had found the bathroom almost immediately. He entered and locked the door, shedding his clothes quickly before slipping into the bathtub. It had been so long since he had taken a warm bath like this. It stung a bit as the water came in contact with the fresher wounds, but once he was submerged in the water it wasn't really that noticeable anymore. He felt something warm and wet slip down his cheeks and realized he was crying.

'Fuck! I hate this! I hate feeling so weak!' he thought as he lifted a hand, furiously wiping the tears away. He took a deep breath and lowered his body so that he was completely submerged in the water. His hair floated around his head. The water felt great, and being under like this was very soothing. Soon, however, he had to come up for air. He breathed slowly and calmly as he grabbed the soap and began cleaning himself. Grabbing a sponge he kept scrubbing and cleaning himself, but he didn't feel any cleaner. He began rubbing the sponge more furiously on his left arm, his skin began turning red, but it still felt dirty! He kept scrubbing his skin raw. Only when droplets of blood began forming on his arm did he snap out of his trance to realize what he was doing. He dropped the sponge and got up from the tub. Annoyed with himself for reacting in such a way. He dried himself off and got dressed again, cleaning the bloodied arm under the sink before wrapping it up with some gauze. He hoped no one would ask him what had happened, but knew that they probably would. He sighed as he looked in the mirror and saw dark bags under his eyes. He hadn't been able to really sleep comfortably lately, as he kept having nightmares of that man... He walked out of the bathroom and sat down on the railing near the stern of the ship. His legs hung over the edge, and he looked towards the water as the wind ruffled his hair.

'It would be easy, just pushing off the edge and letting myself drown... or maybe a sea king would get me first' he thought absentmindedly and scooted closer towards the edge at the same time, ready to just let go. It really would be easy, wouldn't it. And if he did then he wouldn't have to worry anymore... As he realized just what he had thought his eyes widened and he pushed backwards, resulting in him falling to the deck, hard.

'No! I can't do that... What the fuck was I thinking? I have to fulfill my promise to Kuina!' he thought as he sat up, and pulled a hand through his hair.

'Though... I'm not sure I'll be able to anymore... I was weak enough to let him do that to me... and I was weak enough to let him kill Anju... I wasn't strong enough to protect her and to stop him!' He shook his head. Before long his view was darkened by a shadow. He stood up, turned around and checked who had approached him. He was expecting Sanji or maybe Luffy, but he had not expected Usopp to be the one standing there.

"Zoro... What just happened?" he asked.

'Damn... He must have seen it...' Zoro thought, but decided to play confused.

"What do you mean?" he said, looking like he had no idea what the younger boy was talking about.

"I mean that it looked almost like... well, like you were considering jumping off!" the sharpshooter said with a concerned look towards the swordsman.

"Heh, as if I'd do something that weak!" Zoro stated confidently. Unfortunately he wasn't nearly as good a liar as Usopp, and the sniper, having much more experience with lies, could see right through him. Usopp looked skeptically at him before deciding to try approaching it with caution.

"Well... that's what it looked like... Not that I'd blame you for wanting to, with all the stuff you've been through lately, but you know all of us would be heartbroken if you did... It was hard losing you for a short while, but knowing we'd never get you back... well... that would be horrible. After all, it's like Luffy said once, while all of us are equally important and Luffy is our leader, you and Sanji are like the soul and the heart of the crew. Without either one of you we'd never be the same again" he said and walked away. He didn't know if the short speech would help the swordsman any, but at least he had done his best.

Zoro was left standing there, nearly speechless. He had no idea Usopp could be so mature... He couldn't be certain the boy had been telling the truth, but it really seemed as if Usopp had meant every word he said for once.

'Could he be right?' Zoro thought and cast one more glance to the sea. He shuddered at what he had almost done and walked away quickly, catching up to the sniper.

"You know, I remember going to Enies Lobby... Though I can't remember how we got away... " he started. Usopp looked at him.

"I can remember that you went back to Franky's place to get back the money... That was really reckless of you... but I think it's one of the bravest things you've done... I think you're well on your way to achieving your dream" Zoro said before going to work out, thus leaving Usopp standing there. He was slightly surprised. Zoro hadn't really complimented him like that before. It was nice. He was after all one of the weakest members of the crew and a coward too, he knew that, but getting complimented like that, and knowing that someone so strong believed he could reach his goal... It made him believe that maybe he could after all.

"Thanks" he said to Zoro's back, and walked towards the "Usopp's workshop". The incidents in Water 7 and Enies Lobby were very special to him. That was where Merry had been lost and where they had gotten Thousand Sunny. It was also where Usopp had quit the crew and rejoined them. It was painful, and also happy. He had been an idiot, and he knew it, but he had learned from the experience and he had grown stronger. He knew he would probably never be as strong as many of the other pirates, but maybe he could reach his dream of becoming a great warrior of the sea after all.

'I just hope Zoro will be able to heal from this though...' he thought with a sigh. He wouldn't tell the others about the near suicide, but he would keep an eye open so that it wouldn't happen again.

Zoro wouldn't want the others to know, he even tried hiding it from himself, but he was struggling. It didn't matter that Sanji had told him it wasn't his fault! That didn't matter now. That wouldn't change anything. Master hadn't always been harsh either. Sometimes he'd made Zoro feel so good, making the green haired boy moan in pleasure. Those where the incidents Zoro wished he could forget. That was what made him sick. His body had liked how the other man had touched him. And though he himself had hated it, his body had responded. Zoro felt nauseous. He shuddered and tried to think of something else. Like the fact that he was back with his nakama, and that he could remember so much more now. It didn't help much. Instead he remembered Anju, and the song she had sung played in his head. Now that he actually remembered he could recall his mother singing that song to him when he was young, before she had died and he had left and met Kuina. He began humming the melody. Now that he actually remembered he knew the rest of the song too, not just what Anju had sung.

"_Yo, ho, all together,_

_Hoist the colors high._

_Heave ho, thieves and beggars,_

_Never shall we die. _

_The king and his men_

_Stole the queen from her bed_

_And bound her in her Bones._

_The seas be ours_

_And by the powers_

_Where we will we'll roam_" he sang out. As the final words left his mouth he let himself slip to the floor, leaning against the wall. He fell asleep soon enough, never noticing that Brook had been there and heard him sing.

The musician had never known Zoro could sing like that, and though he had heard the melody before he had never heard the lyrics for the song. He let the swordsman lie sleeping restlessly and instead walked away. When he was in the aquarium bar he picked up his violin gently before starting to play the melody of the song. Robin was the only one currently sitting there, reading a book as usual, and she hummed along with the melody. Nami arrived shortly after. She had never heard the song before but found the melody very capturing. Brook let the melody fade before playing the familiar tunes of a calm version of Binks' Sake. The violin's music echoed through the ship and the sleeping green haired boy finally escaped from the nightmares into a peaceful dream.

Sanji had seen Zoro toss and turn in his sleep, as if horrible things were going on in his dreams, but shortly after Brook had begun playing he had seemingly calmed, and eventually he looked as peaceful as ever, almost like before everything that had happened. He let out a puff of smoke and watched it drift towards the sleeping man. He still remembered his last fight with Zoro, all those months ago. As soon as Zoro remembered everything he would apologize, he promised himself.

"S-anji..." Zoro mumbled in his sleep, and a slight smile seemed to appear for a second. Sanji froze. Zoro was dreaming about him? Why? It made him curious, but he shook his head and walked away.

'It's probably just some dream about some adventure we've had...' he thought, although it hadn't really seemed like it.

The next day Sanji gave back Zoro's last sword. Bringing with it the final of the missing memories. The swordsman could now remember leaving Water 7, ending up on Thriller Bark, defeating Gecko Moria and his Zombies, and he remembered Bartholomew Kuma. He could remember the pain of it, and it had really hurt. But even so... even though that had been more physically painful than anything he'd ever experienced even that paled compared to his life as a slave, because although Kuma had harmed him greatly in a physical manner, he felt that what Master had done to him had damaged and scarred him much, much deeper. He sighed as he placed the last of his swords among the other two. He walked onto the deck and sat down on the soft green grass. Sanji left him alone to prepare dinner. Zoro lifted his hand to the scarf that covered the collar. They still couldn't find a way to get it off without harming him.

'I guess that means I'll have to either face Master again, or live with this fucking metal around my neck the rest of my life' he thought and let his hand drop. The gauze around his arm reminded him of the happenings of yesterday. Luckily no one had asked him what it was; it seemed they assumed it wasn't anything big. He shook his head. There was no way he could ever try something like that again. He was strong, wasn't he? So he should be able to handle this. At least he hoped so. For now he'd take one day at a time and try his best to get over it. It was hard, but necessary. After all, he couldn't keep himself shut down because of one stupid man!

'It gets a little easier every day... but it's never going to be easy is it?' he thought as he looked up to the clouded skies. It looked ominous, like it was about to start thundering any time. A chilly wind ruffled his hair, and he stood up just as Sanji yelled that dinner was ready.

Things went well for about a month. They had stopped on a few islands to get supplies, but nothing special. Zoro got a little better for each passing day, and to an outsider he might even seem to be normal. Although the trauma was still there, and at times he'd still flinch when the others touched him unexpectedly, space out for a while or even panic if someone startled him. But the incidents were getting fewer and he was getting better at controlling his reactions. Largely due to his focus on training. To him the workouts were very therapeutic. He could focus on his pushups, sit-ups or kata and it would help taking his mind of things. Another thing that helped was the conversations he was having with Sanji on a regular basis now. It was nice, though they still argued around the others, it was mostly playfully and they both enjoyed talking in the evening, just relaxed. After all, though they had fought a lot before, they were still nakama, and had helped each other out on numerous occasions. The only thing that disturbed Zoro about it was his quickly increasing feelings for the chef. It was worrisome, as he now remembered the blonde's hurtful comment in their last fight before the slavery, and also because Zoro knew he'd panic if Sanji ever tried doing anything with him.

'As if that would happen anyway' Zoro thought with a sigh. He stood up and moved towards the weights. He listened with a smile as Brook once again was playing "Bink's sake" on his violin.

"A SHIP IS CLOSING IN" Usopp yelled. The straw hat pirates turned to the direction of the quickly approaching ship.

"Usopp! What kind of ship is it?" Nami asked. The sniper looked closer.

"Looks like a pirate ship... But I'm not sure. It has some weird bird or something as a figurehead, and I can't really see their flag" he said. Luffy seemed to glow with anticipation of a fight. The last few islands they had been on had been so calm, and to Luffy, boring... Zoro looked at the ship as it came closer. Cannons were fired, and the Straw hat crew quickly got ready for battle. Zoro pulled his swords with a swift movement, immediately going into a battle stance. But as the ship was coming steadily closer he froze. His eyes were wide as he stared at the flag. It was so familiar to him, though his crew mates hadn't seen it before. He remained still as the other pirate crew boarded their ship and began fighting, only moving when he had to. A gun was fired into the air and everything became still.

"I am sorry, Straw hat pirates. I did not intend to fight you." the man with the gun said.

"Stand down, men" he added towards his own crew. They immediately obeyed.

"Who the hell are you?" Franky asked. The man, **F**who was obviously the captain, grinned viciously.

"My name is Hagewashi, and I am the captain of the Vulture pirates" he explained with exaggerated motions.

"Yo, I'm Luffy" Luffy said with a straight face. Nami hit him upon the head.

"Idiot" she muttered. Turning towards Hagewashi she asked him

"Why are you here?" the man grinned again.

"I'm just here to collect something that belongs to me..." he turned his gaze towards Zoro, and the crew turned as well when they heard the clanking of Zoro's swords falling to the ground.

"Ain't that right, kitten?" Hagewashi sneered.

* * *

**A/N: **_Oh noes O.o what did I just write... I feel so evil..._

_please review. It keeps the chapters coming ;)_


	8. The Grand Finale

**A/N: **_This is it people. We've reached the final chapter. Thank you all for your support and reviews. I appreciate each and everyone. Whether you log in or remain anonymous, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And the top of my heart. Any part of my heart. (Why is there a difference?)_

_**Warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1. **  
_

* * *

**Chapter 8 - The Grand Finale**

Zoro took a step back, trying to get away. This had to be a nightmare. Just a bad dream of something that would never happen. Right? He backed into the wall with a thud, eyes wide with fear. Before the straw hats could react he had moved forwards and struck Zoro, throwing him to the ground.

"You will answer when I ask a question, kitten! Or maybe you have forgotten that?" he sneered. Zoro swallowed hard.

"Y-yes Master..." he said with a down turned gaze. Hagewashi smirked.

"That's a good little kitten." he said, while petting the boy. Zoro flinched slightly, but tried hiding it from his nakama. Hagewashi then proceeded to pulling of the scarf and grabbing the collar roughly. He pulled the white shirt off and glared at the disfigured slave brand.

"You are mine, you foolish slave! Never forget that. You will be punished for this!" he hissed in the swordsman's ear.

"Hey! Let Zoro go!" Luffy yelled angrily.

"Shut up! He is mine, you fools!" Hagewashi spat back. He pulled out the whip and pushed Zoro to the ground. The whip hit the boy's back with a crack, and an angry red line appeared, a little blood seeping out from the wound. Just as the man was about to bring the whip down again someone grabbed his arm, holding it back. Zoro looked up when the expected impact never came and saw Luffy, with a furious look on his face, holding Hagewashi back.

"Never. Touch. My. Nakama" he said with a deadly air about him. Hagewashi threw the rubber boy into the wall.

"He's mine now, Straw-boy" he sneered.

"He has been for about 7 months now! The collar proves it" he added with a rough pull on said object. Zoro grimaced at the pain from such a move.

"What?" Luffy looked confused. Sanji narrowed his eyes.

"So you were the one who did all that shit to him you asshole!" he growled as he flicked away his cigarette. The crew assumed their battle-stances as they realized the meaning of the man's words. Zoro reached for his swords, but before he could get them a foot connected with his stomach and sent him into the wall. Master grabbed his hair and pulled him up, attaching a chain to the collar. He grabbed the green haired boy's face and leaned in.

"No one escapes from me with their lives, kitten. Remember, you are mine!" he hissed in his ear before letting go. He pulled the boy along, using the leash.

"He doesn't belong with you anymore. Here's my proof. Slave, what is your name?" he asked with a sneer. Zoro looked down, ashamed to be so afraid of the man, and ashamed of showing this to his nakama.

"Zo- I mean... I have no name... I am j-just a slave" he muttered, hoping Master hadn't heard the slip up.

"Well, then, come along, kitten. Time to go home" Master said. Zoro wanted to fight back, he really did, but the memories of what this man had done to him kept him from it. He was practically paralyzed with fear, and couldn't fight back, no matter how much he wanted to.

"There there, kitten. Didn't you like it with me?" Master asked with an evil looking smirk. He grabbed Zoro's face and kissed him roughly, letting his free hand slide down the swordsman's back towards his ass. Zoro's instincts kicked in and he tried twisting away. Master suddenly let go of him and he stumbled backwards, nearly tripping. He shuddered and tried to avoid looking at anyone.

'Shouldn't have done that... He'll punish me... I can't... I should've stayed!' his thoughts were in chaos. He had never been this panicked before.

"You fuckin' bastard! Never touch him like that!" Sanji said as he pulled Hagewashi away from the green haired boy.

"Get away from me, and let me take my slave with me!" the man said as he glared at the blonde.

"Fuck off! Leave our nakama alone!" He said as he kicked the man. Hagewashi was sent crashing into some of his own crew. Unfortunately he had gotten a hold of Zoro's leash and pulled him along too. The boy gasped for air and coughed a bit, but luckily he was mostly unharmed. Hagewashi pulled him closer and pulled out a gun. He aimed it at Sanji.

"Now listen closely, kitten. I will shoot your friend here, unless you do as I say. Understand?" he said, loud enough for all of them to hear. Sanji stood still, but looked towards the rest of the crew. Luffy looked livid, and Usopp, while shaking with fright, seemed ready to fight. Nami had teary eyes, Robin looked stunned, Franky was pissed and Brook's jaw had, nearly literally, dropped to the floor. Zoro looked towards his crew mates, and let his head drop, unable to look his nakama in the eyes. Flashes of Anju being shot by this horrible man kept playing in his head, only the red haired girl had been replaced with a certain blonde chef.

"I-I understand..." he said.

"I'll obey..." his leash was pulled, and he got to his feet, standing next to Master with a submissive and defeated look to him. Luffy was the first to speak up.

"Let go of him! No one threatens my Nakama!" he yelled. The rest of the crew agreed, and resumed their fighting stances.

'Luffy... Everyone... Don't. It's better if you just don't!' Zoro thought, as he was pulled closer to Master.

"Hahahaha! Haven't you been listening? He's not your nakama anymore! And he'll pay for your insolence!" Master said before licking his lips and pulling out his whip. Zoro was now running purely on instinct, unable to think of pride and shame. He pulled on his leash, trying desperately to get away from the man. Unfortunately he was pushed onto the ground by Master, while several of the man's crew held him down. Zoro could hear the sound of the whip coming down onto his back, creating a wound. He could hear himself screaming as the whip was brought down on him over and over again.

The straw hat pirates were shocked by the screams. Never had they heard Zoro make such pained sounds. They quickly began fighting the crew of Hagewashi, but it took longer than they would've liked. The crew was a lot stronger than they appeared, and it just took too long to fight.

"Zoro!" As Luffy was being overwhelmed by one man wielding a sea-stone weapon, Sanji saw Zoro shuddering by the cruel man's touch. He watched in horror, while still fighting to get to his broken nakama, as Zoro was pulled up again, this time by his hair, and Hagewashi whispered something in the swordsman's ear.

Zoro let himself be pulled back up, shuddering at the feeling of once again being owned and dominated.

"There, kitten. Obey." Master said and pulled him closer. Zoro could feel the man's breath on his ear.

"Unless you want me to shoot every single one of your friends here, I suggest you do as I say. Now I hope you still remember what you were taught, kitten" Master whispered. Zoro wanted to flee. He didn't want to obey. But he would. Just for his nakama's sake he would obey.

Hagewashi unbuckled his pants slowly. That bastard was going to make Zoro do that? Sanji ran and kicked out, meaning to hit Hagewashi in the head. Unfortunately the man moved out of his way, so that the kick merely hit one arm. Sanji landed gracefully on his feet and was about to charge again when a gunshot sounded through the general fighting noise. He gasped as a stinging, burning sensation hit his shoulder. That asshole had just shot him!

'Shit! How can we beat this guy without any of us being hurt' he thought as he glared at the man.

"I warned you! Stay away, and let me handle my slave. He's not your concern anymore" Hagewashi spat. Sanji stood back up, watching the man. He dared not move closer as he was afraid Hagewashi would fire again and injure Zoro or any of the others in the crew.

"Sanji! Stay out of this. Please... " Zoro said with a pleading gaze towards the chef. Sanji didn't like that look on his face. It was so unlike the Zoro they used to know, and revealed all the pain the young man had been through. Hagewashi chuckled cruelly.

"Now, kitten, lets continue." he smirked down at his slave. Zoro looked at his master and bowed down to him.

"That's a good kitten" Master praised and petted the slave's head. As he looked towards Sanji, Zoro moved. He pulled the gun away from Master and threw it over the railing and into the sea below. Before Hagewashi could act Zoro had moved, grabbed the chain attached to his collar and twisted around Hagewashi. Using both hands he quickly placed the chain around the man's neck and pulled. Hagewashi could hardly breathe, and wheezed as he tried reaching the green haired boy to pull him off. Zoro tightened the leash and kept it like that until he felt the man go limp. Sanji could see the man struggle to breathe and slowly turn purplish. He watched as Hagewashi's eyes rolled back as the man collapsed. Zoro let go of the chain, pulling it away from the man, panting hard. Sanji ran up to him.

"Zoro! Are you alright?" he asked. Zoro nodded before falling to his knees. He was so relieved that Master... no... that Hagewashi was dead. Tears from both trauma and from relief at finally actually being free, ran down his face. Sanji supported him as the others approached them, having finally driven the other pirates away after defeating most of them.

"Are you guys alright?"

"What happened?"

"Zoro?"

"Sanji, are you injured?"

"Were you shot?" the crew overwhelmed them with questions before Chopper finally managed to calm them, with the help of Robin.

"Chopper, can you see if you can find the key?" Sanji asked and pulled out another cigarette. Chopper nodded, and searched the body of Hagewashi. He pulled out a key hanging around the man's neck and handed it to Sanji. Zoro looked up slightly as the key was mentioned. He bared his neck to Sanji, letting the blonde put the key into the lock of the collar and twist it around. With an audible snap the collar opened and fell to the floor with a clang. Zoro put a hand to his throat feeling the weight of the collar finally gone. He chuckled slightly before grinning up to Sanji.

"I guess I'm finally free, huh? Completely free!" He stood up shakily, helped by an offered hand from the cook. Luffy came up to them with a wide grin.

"Of course! We're pirates, we're meant to be free" Luffy said in the way only Luffy can.

"I suppose you're right" the swordsman said as his captain laughed.

"You really worried us, bro!" a near-sobbing Franky said while wiping away tears.

"Yes, but Zoro-san, you were very brave to handle such an event. I do not think I would have lived. Although I'm not really alive to begin with. Skull joke! Yohohoho" Brook laughed, soon joined by Luffy.

"Enough! I have to check on your injuries!" Chopper stated with a serious look on his face.

"Zoro, you'll come first. I think your injuries are the worst." the reindeer tried to look stern as he said this, but it was obvious he was still a bit upset about what had happened. Zoro followed him into the infirmary.

Sanji watched the doctor take Zoro away. With the collar gone and that Hagewashi-guy dead, maybe things could begin to go back to normal again. Though a lot of things would remind them of this forever. The scars marring Zoro's body would fade, but never completely disappear, and there might be some mental trauma that would remain. Nevertheless the cook was relieved that the swordsman was finally free. More so than he'd expected.

As evening aproached Zoro and Sanji sat in the crows nest. Sanji was on lookout duty, and Zoro just didn't feel like going to sleep just yet. He looked at the blond and hesitated before speaking.

"Sanji... I... Thank you" he finally said. "For being there and helping me..." Sanji looked at him

"We're nakama aren't we. Of course I'd help you..." he said, before inhaling the smoke from his cigarette.

"Yeah... But with what happened between us. All our fights, and with what you said before... all of this... I just thought..." Sanji nearly flinched. He'd almost forgotten what he'd said to Zoro before he was taken. The words now echoed in his head. He'd called him a fag. As if that was something dirty and disgusting.

"I'm sorry about that. I really didn't mean it" he sighed. His eyes revealed his guilt. A determined gleam suddenly appeared in his eyes though, and he hugged the swordsman close.

"Sanji, what are you...?" Zoro was cut off as soft lips touched his. He was too stunned to respond, and Sanji pulled away. Zoro blinked a few times. Wondering what just happened.

"I can't believe it took all of this just to show me what I really feel about you" Sanji chuckled. Zoro joined him and eventually a familiar grin settled on his face.

"Well. We'll have to do something about that" he said and grabbed the cook by his shirt, pulling him into a kiss. A battle commenced, eventually the chef won out and when they pulled away from each other, both were panting for air.

"Sure you can handle it?" Sanji asked, concerned about the green haired man. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"I can handle anything you can dish out, curly-brow" he smirked. And so, softly and gently they lay together. The memories of Hagewashi were pushed away, making room for new ones. Better ones. Maybe someday he could be completely over this whole incident. Thanks to all the straw hats, but especially thanks to Sanji.

* * *

**A/N: **_And it's over. I might post the alternate ending someday, but I doubt anyone would want that xD It's kinda tragic. That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the story, and that you'll leave reviews to show it ;) Thank you for reading ^^,_


End file.
